Pokemon Short Stories
by The True ZX
Summary: Follow Seth, a trainer originally from the Kanto region, as he discovers his family and crosses paths with the series' main characters on several occasions. Each story is spaced apart in the anime timeline. Rated for the battle scenarios.
1. The Story of Sola and Shadow

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Pokemon or any individual aspect therein. Pokemon is copyrighted to Nintendo and Game Freak.

Author's Notes: Despite being the first story in canonical order, this is actually the third Pokemon story I have written on paper. (But the first to be viewable online). Still, despite modifications, I still request reviews concerning the story or parts of it. With that said: enjoy!!

~ZX

Symbols Legend: (There can be an overlap)

"Talking"

*_thinking*_

=Telepathic communication= (I don't have a set name for it yet.)

* * *

**The Story of Sola and Shadow**

Her life started out on a poor note, born and raised only knowing the voice of her only friend, Bill the "Pokemaniac". She never went outside to play with other pokemon or meet new people. The reason she didn't have any other friends was because of a rare condition in both humans and pokemon- she was born blind. The little Eevee always moved under Bill's guidance, oftentimes through Bill carrying her, and never moved on her own.

Then, one fateful summer day in the city of Goldenrod, she sensed a new smell, followed by Bill's gentle hands picking up the little Eevee. The new scent got stronger as she was carried by Bill from her bedroom into the living room. She struggled nervously because she was a little scared of this new person.

"It's ok, little one." She heard from Bill. This seemed to calm her nerves a little.

She was set on the ground on all fours in the living room and she sat on the spot, listening to her friend speak with this new person.

"I haven't seen your face in a while, about a year to be exact." Bill said to the new trainer

"Yes, it's been that long since Katie and I met you at your place north of Cerulean. I've been out and about as of late, trying to find the best team to challenge the Pokemon League with. I'm making a little progress, though, and I intend to continue moving forward." The new trainer replied

"I don't mean to be burdensome, but I have a request for you."

"It might depend on the request, but let's hear it."

"Well, with all of my work on the PC system, I have little time to take care of some of my Pokemon. All of the rest of mine are either with Professor Oak or with my family. However, I wish for someone to take care of this little Eevee. If you won't take her with you, I'll ask another trainer I'm familiar with."

"Oh, there will be no need for that. I'll be glad to take care of her. Who knows, maybe she'll be a great help to me in the future. Plus, to be honest, I've been quite interested with Eevees for quite sometime. There's quite a mystery to them, don't you think?"

She felt gentle hands pick her up and cradle her; one hand was petting her on the head. She knew it was the strange trainer, but the trainer was being gentle and she was becoming accustomed to him.

"Well, if you are to take her with you, I must inform you that she's been born blind. The poor thing hasn't experienced much in her life." Bill explained.

"Oh, I see. That explains why she never moved and the pale look in her eyes. Poor little thing. Don't worry, Bill, I'll do the best I can."

After saying their goodbyes to Bill, they exited his home and went directly to the Goldenrod Pokemon center. Along the way, the trainer introduced himself:

"Oh, by the way, my name's Seth. Let's stop by the Pokemon Center first, as I have some things to take care of first."

Upon entering the Pokemon Center, she felt her paws touch the cold tile of the center's floor. She was released from his hands when she heard her new trainer begin to walk away. She sat in her spot, as she always did when she lived with Bill. After noticing that the Eevee wasn't following, Seth turned around to see her sitting in her spot.

"Well, come on, little Eevee. Just follow my voice, or use your nose to track my scent. Here, I'll tap my foot for you to listen to." Seth said, calmly.

After hearing Seth say that, she began to hear a steady tapping sound coming from in front of her. She slowly got up and carefully walked in the direction the tapping was coming from. Just as she was getting accustomed to the tapping, several trainers barged into the center causing a large clamor and drowning out the tapping sound. She was about to panic and sit back down when she picked up Seth's scent, the same scent she picked up when he first entered Bill's house. Now in a slight panic, she started running towards the source of the scent and wound up tripping over his foot.

"Are you ok, little one? I didn't expect that to happen, sorry."

She quickly got back up on her paws, walked back to Seth, and rubbed her head on his leg to let him know she was ok. They began to walk together and ended up at the PC system within the center, the clamor quieting down the farther away they traveled from it.

"Despite that unexpected situation, you performed quite well. I think I have a name for you too. You may not know this, but the sun is the reason that there is day and night, as the sun gives off a brilliant bight light. Bright can also be used to describe someone who is very smart. So, I've decided on Sola, a take on the sun. What do you think?" Seth told the Eevee.

_*My being smart is kind of much, but I like the ring that name has to it.*_

She barks happily to show her appreciation for the name, while swaying her tail from side-to-side. She heard some more beeping from the PC that Seth was using before she heard him shift, or turn around.

"Ok, I'm finished. Let's go get something to eat, Sola."

She was picked back up by the trainer and carried out of the Pokemon Center. Upon exiting the center, she noticed that he didn't walk very far before entering another building. As soon as they entered, Sola could smell many kinds of food, both human and some poke food. Seth walked in a short ways and sat at a table, placing Sola on the floor near it. During their quick meal, Sola heard Seth explain more about his situation:

"I'm going to take you traveling with me, so that you can experience the world in your own way. Teaching you how to walk around places using your nose and ears will help you quite a bit. I'll give you little lessons here-and-there as I train my other pokemon. However, during the weekends- Friday, Saturday, and Sunday- I go out at night quite a bit, and the night team I use already has all 6 spots filled. You'll have to spend some time in a pokeball then. Are you ok with that?"

Sola nods understandingly and receives a short rub behind the ears from Seth. After finishing the meal, Seth carried Sola back to the Pokemon Center. After being placed back on the cold tile, she followed Seth up to the front desk, where Seth requested to use a bedroom for the night. The woman at the desk (Nurse Joy) then led Seth, who led Sola, up a short flight of stairs. Sola had a little bit of a rough time in her first experience walking up the stairs on her own, but she paced herself and made it to the top without injury. After the stairs, they were introduced to a small room, simple in design. Seth picked up and placed Sola on the recliner, and she curled up to relax and slowly fell asleep. Seth was soon to follow, falling asleep a tad later in the single bed.

Over the course of the next twelve days, Sola received special training to help her navigate the land of Johto, and also underwent a couple of unexpected circumstances to avoid threats from native wild pokemon. She experienced the sounds and smells of Ecruteak City, Violet City, the Ruins of Alpha, and all the way down south to Azalea Town and the nearby Ilex Forest. All the while during this journey, she heard the sounds of battle- the Pokemon Battle. She noticed that Seth used pokemon that, he said, were his trusted partners throughout Kanto- Seth's homeland- noting that Seth used a Raichu, an Arcanine, a Pidgeot, an Alakazam, and a Venusaur.

On the twelfth day, after a brief encounter with a wild bug's nest in Ilex forest, Sola felt a little strange, as if something was changing inside of her.

"Y-you're evolving!? T-there was no stone! How can this be…?" Seth exclaimed in an astonished tone.

Sola had evolved from her Eevee stage to a new stage: the Espeon stage.

"Wait, I think I understand now. If this is daytime, then the other-" Seth continued to himself.

Sola came out of her evolution and relaxed all of her muscles. She felt stronger physically, and felt completely different then before. She opened her eyes and was immediately bombarded with bright lights and colors. She blinked a few times, thinking she was experiencing an unconscious daydream.

_*What's going on? What am I experiencing?* _Sola thought.

She shakes her head, as if to get rid of a bad dream.

_*No matter what I do, I'm still experiencing this. C-could it be that I…-*_

Sola looked around, seeing green all around where she sat that flickered in shade from the breeze. To her right, the green was interrupted by a large grey stripe that people were walking on. This stripe led to a few very large box-like objects. She looked straight forward, taking in the sight of the closest "box". It was a silvery white with a red top and to the left side (where the front face of the building is) she saw two thick white arcs enclosing a white circle. (A/N: free e-cookie to whoever guesses what this is) She began walking towards it.

"Sola? Where are you going?" Seth asked, confused as to why Sola is acting on her own.

_*If this is a daydream- like I think it is- this thing shouldn't be real. I must find out for myself if I… can actually… see.*_ Sola told herself.

She kept advancing on the box, despite Seth's brief protest. After cautiously approaching the box for about a minute, she finally got close enough to "test". She heard Seth follow her the whole way, but he stopped before Sola did. Sola raised her left front paw and pushed it forward. She felt the cool touch of metal as her paw met the large "box". She barely moved afterward, as she was awestruck that the "box" was real. Seth showed just as much astonishment in his voice.

"You… you can see now!?"

Sola removed her paw from the "box", thinking about what her trainer just said.

_*Yeah… I can see now… I can actually SEE everything!! This isn't a dream, this… no everything around me… is real!*_

Her tail waved excitedly as she made the realization, she made a quick turn toward where her trainer's voice last came from and finally saw the face of the person- no, friend- that taught her everything about the world and was partly responsible for her new gift. Seth stood just two inches shy of 4' at 11 years of age, and leaned toward the slim side of average in overall body structure. He wore a navy blue t-shirt with white accents that depicted lightning going in random directions and faded black jeans with white and navy tennis shoes. This was in stark contrast to his yellow hair, spiked randomly. He opted not to wear a hat to protect his eyes from the sun, but rather wore black sunglasses hiding his emerald eyes. The only extras he carried were a black and blue backpack, and a black wristwatch on his right hand. Seth finally saw that the paleness he saw in her eyes as an Eevee were gone and all that was left were gentle lavender eyes. Sola quickly ran up to him, pure happiness clearly visible on her face, and playfully tackled him down onto the grass. She then quickly licked his cheek to say thanks before sitting down next to him. Seth sat up, patted the top of the now-Espeon's head, and rubbed behind her ears- which she began to really enjoy.

"I'm still recovering from this experience, but I've found an interesting conclusion from the evolution process. Professor Oak and Bill will be dying to hear this. Now let's see here…"

Seth took a small red machine out of one of his pockets and opened it up. After typing some things on a keypad, he pointed it at Sola. Sola flinched because he swung around so quickly, but quickly relaxed. After a quick "ping" from the machine, Seth began explaining what he was doing.

"This is a pokedex. Professor Oak from Kanto- my homeland- gave me the side quest of trying to record some sort of data of all of the pokemon I could using this. As an Eevee, you could evolve into one of many forms. The only 3 I knew of from other trainers were using Fire, Water, and Thunder stones. I obviously didn't use a stone on you, as I never had any in my pack. Your evolution puzzled me, astonished me, and helped me conclude that there aren't just those three evolutions, but five. I also think that it sparked because of our increasing friendship with each other. However, I see you are a Psychic-type (he quickly shows her the screen), so work on all of your talents just got more complicated. However, that's all I can say at this point."

_*Psychic type, eh? I wonder what kind of talents these psychic types have?*_

A light growl from the both of them hinted what they should do next, so they went to a local shop in Azalea Town to get supplies for lunch. For lunch, they retreated to the local pokemon center. During their short meal, Seth spoke up again:

"A psychic-type is capable of doing some miraculous things with their minds. They can confuse opponents, distract them, and attack them in essentially the same move. The best part is- it's pretty much all mental. We'll start honing your new abilities after this. However, I'll be making the switch to the night team this evening, so you know the drill."

*_Using my mind for attacking? If it's my mind, then this might be easy. At least I hope it's easy._*

After Seth finished, he went to the corner with the PC and started it up. He then typed on a keypad while Sola watched what he was doing. He placed a pokeball next to the computer in a small chamber. The ball was enveloped in white light and disappeared. Seconds later, the beam of light returned and left a half-black ball with a yellow design on it. Seth took it, added it to his belt and motioned Sola to head outside. Once outside of the town perimeter, near Ilex Forest, Seth threw the new ball into the air. Out of the ball came an Alakazam.

"Alakazam here will help you tap into and focus your new psychic powers. Learning by example from a fellow psychic-type is much better than simply listening to me describe what I think is done." Seth explained.

He then turned to Alakazam.

"She's all yours. I won't be far, should you need my help at all."

Alakazam simply nods and Sola watches as Seth heads off down the pathway a short distance before sitting at the base of a nearby tree and taking a few things out of his bag. Her attention quickly turned back to Alakazam, eager to learn her new abilities.

"Well this is rather unexpected." Alakazam began "I must admit, this is the first time I've played the role of teacher to anyone, so you'll have to bear with me. Anyways, as Sir Seth has told you already, I'm Alakazam and am capable of using psychic powers. Hopefully, if I can teach this properly, you should learn to tap into your new powers and use them accurately. Well, first things first, we should get some materials to start with, eh?"

Sola quickly became interested in Alakazam's speech. It sounded very familiar to her, but she couldn't recall where it was from. After wandering around the general area for a while they found some fallen tree branches piled up off of the pathway.

"Watch and learn, young one. By using your mind, you can move objects and carry things you may need, like wood for a campfire out in the wilderness, or it can be used to repulse an opponent. Now this is the hard part to describe: You need to reach out with your mind, embrace the object, and move or carry it in the direction you wish to take it. Keep in mind that these powers are almost an extension of you. I'll start first to set the example."

Alakazam slowly closed his eyes, relaxed all of the muscles in his body. Slowly, one of the large logs at the edge of the pile began to rise up. After rising a few feet, it hovered and began moving toward them. Alakazam lowered it to the ground and set it a couple of feet in front of the two pokemon. Sola, slightly amazed, turned back to the Alakazam to see him exhale calmly and reopen his eyes.

"Now it's your turn, young one. Remember; just reach out with your mind just as if you were reaching out with your han-… er… paw. Once you master using your powers in this way, it should become second nature to you. The best way to train your mind is to start out with one of the smaller objects, then move on to larger ones." He continued

Sola then repeated what Alakazam had done; she relaxed her muscles and began taking slower and deeper breaths. She closed her eyes and was about to begin concentrating, when she was interrupted by Alakazam.

"Sorry to bother you like this, young one, but you don't need to close your eyes, especially since you are only learning how to do this. I only close my eyes because it is what I'm used to. Looking at the object you are concentrating on helps you concentrate on it more, if you understand where I'm going."

Sola nodded understandingly. She turns back to the pile of logs and isolates a smaller branch on the right side near the top of the pile. Looking at the branch, she began concentrating on the object and what she wanted to do. Slowly, she felt a wave of mysterious energy exit her and travel outward. This mysterious energy gave her the sensation that she was moving and feeling everything, but when she broke her concentration and looked at the ground, she notices that the energy stops flowing and realizes she hasn't moved an inch. Again, she isolates the branch and begins concentrating again, letting the energy flow to where she wants it to, and it eventually reaches the pile. She guides it to the branch and feels the energy embrace it. She then raised the energy into the air, except the branch didn't rise with it. So she tries again, this time she grasps it firmly using this energy and slowly raises it up above the pile. She then guides the branch slowly back to where the two pokemon are standing. Upon reaching them, Sola gently sets the branch in front of her and releases the branch. Alakazam is quick to applaud her first success. Sola remains quiet, however, and decides to try it again. This time, she would return the branch back to the pile. She is quick to grasp and raise the branch in front of her, but she still moves it back to the pile relatively slowly. Upon reaching the pile, she raises it above the whole pile and drops it at the top. Alakazam then takes the time after this attempt to speak to her.

"Splendid work, young one. Sure, there is still more to work on, but you seemed to master the core concept quite quickly. I must ask, since Master Seth told me you evolved from an Eevee, and they aren't able to use psychic powers, how did it feel? And how were you able to master it so quickly?"

"I… uh… I can't explain how it felt, other than it felt like there was this energy running through me, listening to my commands… I was in full control of it. I don't know, it almost seemed… natural… to me. I felt like I knew what I needed to do, and yet I also didn't know what I was doing. Sorry if this is confusing you." Sola replied.

"Oh no, young one, quite the opposite. It seems to me that when you evolved, you somehow obtained the knowledge to master your new abilities. However, it is hidden- waiting to be discovered by you. If you wish to keep practicing, feel free to do so until you feel comfortable with this ability."

"Yeah, I wanted to keep trying anyway, to get used to this feeling."

As Sola keeps trying out this psychic ability, Alakazam uses his abilities to read Sola's mental patterns as she continues practicing, and offers hints and advice every once in a while. During all of this practice, Sola moves from small objects to large ones, and also discovers other uses for this ability, including rotating the object while carrying it, being able to move it at faster speeds, and even swinging, throwing, and catching objects. Only a half-hour passes before Sola tells Alakazam that she feels comfortable with this ability.

"If you insist on moving on, then we can. There are deeper levels to psychic powers than moving or attacking foes. While these techniques confuse them, another ability that shocks others is the ability to mind-read. I'll have to tell you now, though, this ability will take more time to even get comfortable with, much less master. Mind-reading is part natural to psychic users, but it needs to be discovered individually. Are you ready to give this a shot?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." Sola replied, a tad nervous.

"Reading into another's mind is much like sensing the environment around you," Alakazam continued, "but the real trick is being able to penetrate into your target's mind and seeing what he/she is thinking. Now, I want you to use that energy, focus on me, and try to read what I'm thinking."

Sola nods understandingly and begins concentrating on Alakazam. She lets the energy flow through her once again, a feeling she is quickly getting accustomed to, and concentrates on Alakazam only. While letting her energy flow over Alakazam, she feels another strange energy.

_*This must be his mind I'm feeling. Perhaps if I concentrate on that…*_

She quickly focuses on his mind, and dives straight in. When she does, however, she is bombarded with sentences, images, and simply a traffic jam of thoughts flying every which way. She tried sifting through the mess to find what he's thinking about, but with thoughts and images going every which way made things very difficult. After several minutes, she found a phrase that kind of stood out among the others. She wasn't sure if this was what she was looking for, but she decided to try anyway.

"A-… Are you thinking about whether you are a good teacher to me or not?" Sola asked

"Actually, yes it is, young one. Well done!" Alakazam replied

"Then your answer is 'Yes'. But everything in the mind is so confusing."

"You are having trouble with this ability, aren't you?"

"Again, yes. It felt like… I see things going in every which direction, it's very hard to find out what you were really thinking about. I know I'll get used to it eventually, but how do you do this, Alakazam?"

"Well, when I see the mind, I see a sphere of thoughts, images and actions, as you do. However, I also see layers to the mind. The thin outer layer is the conscious mind; the slightly larger middle layer is subconscious actions and thoughts. The subconscious are things that can be recalled, such as memories, past strategies and techniques, and even alternative movements when in battle. The majority of the mind is the unconscious, which becomes very vague to describe. Instincts can be classified in the unconscious, as well as drives and motivations that encourage or discourage specific actions."

"Ugh… this is too confusing for me. I would rather just like to try again, if you don't mind." Sola said, shaking her head.

"Not at all. I'm sure if you keep practicing, you'll begin to understand what I'm talking about eventually. Let me think of something… ok ready when you are."

Sola begins concentrating on Alakazam's mind again, but accidentally makes the same mistake of diving right into his mind. She experiences the same traffic jam of thoughts, images, actions, and memories that confused her last time. Again, she sifts through the mess trying to find out what he's currently thinking about. After several minutes, she slightly relaxes her concentration on Alakazam's mind, mainly because she was beginning to get tired, and finds that the answer was more obvious this time around. Alakazam was thinking it was getting dark out and they should find Seth. After releasing herself from his mind, Sola looks around and notices the sky is beginning to darken into an orangish evening glow.

"I agree, we should head back now."

"Very good, young one! Let's go find Master Seth before it gets too dark. I'll lead the way."

Alakazam quickly retraces their steps mentally and remembers where Seth was sitting. Both he and Sola quickly return to see Seth sitting under the same large tree, with a few tools around him, and his wristwatch lay out in front of him, along with some miscellaneous parts scattered around. As soon as they noticed him, Seth began putting everything away, as well as placing the watch back on his wrist. Alakazam, while audibly talking, was mentally relaying to Seth what had happened as far as Sola's training while the trainer and two pokemon were walking back to Azalea Town.

"=She is progressing remarkably well. She has already mastered moving and redirecting objects. She is now working on looking into others' minds. However, she still has a long way to go on this, and I'd like to request more time to train her some more.=" Alakazam began

"I understand, Alakazam, but the fact that she has already mastered a psychic concept so quickly has me a little stunned. She shouldn't be able to learn this quickly if psychic powers are new to her. I honestly expected her to take longer to master some of these concepts. Anyway, I'll be reserving a room in the pokemon center. You two can resume training there." Seth replied

"=Thank you, master. I'm sure she'll be ready before next week, sir.="

"How many times have I told you not to call me 'master'? Honestly, you sound like an elderly butler talking to some rich prince. I'm not royalty, Alakazam, so try to drop the formalities please." Seth told Alakazam with a chuckle.

"=Yes, sir.="

It was then that Sola realized that Alakazam's speech and manners sounded a lot like Bill's father, whom stopped by on occasion. After re-entering Azalea Town, they stopped by a nearby building for supper, then Seth led the two psychic types back to the local pokemon center. After acquiring a room key, all three, led by Seth, walked upstairs to the selected room. Seth opened the door, pocketed the key, and motioned for the two psychic types to enter.

"I'm heading back out with the night team. Feel free to continue in here, I'll be back later." Seth said

Seth then tossed Sola's ball and Alakazam's ball onto the mattress before turning back and exiting the room, closing the door on his way out.

"Well, young one, we should best get started so you can master this." Alakazam started

"Yeah, that dinner really helped. Get ready, Alakazam." Sola replied

Sola practiced this technique several more times. During the practice, Sola began to understand Alakazam's description of the mind. Everything he was presently thinking about was felt near the surface of the mind and could be easily read. Near the end, Sola was picking out the particular word or phrase that Alakazam was thinking about almost instantaneously. Alakazam stopped the practices when he noticed this.

"Well done, young one! I must say, you performed splendidly that last time. I must ask- did you feel that this was natural to you as well?" Alakazam asked

"I'll have to admit, some of it did. But the action of finding out what someone else is thinking about… that took both experience and your help… Mostly your help, though." Sola replied

"Hmm, yes, there are a few techniques that you must learn on your own time, and are not naturally there from the start. Who knows? You may even find another use for some of your psychic abilities and battle moves. Speaking of which, I do want to teach you one more special technique."

"Another technique? I thought these two I learned were the-"

"Yes, those two techniques are the most popular, because they have the most uses, and believe me, you will master them quickly. However, there is one more technique that I know has very limited uses."

"What is it, then?"

"Thought Communication, but most humans call it 'Telepathy'. Few psychic-types discover this on their own, and most that do discover it- to the best of my knowledge- share a very close bond with their trainers. As you very well know, we cannot communicate verbally with our trainers because they are not able to understand our language. This technique helps us use the human language to communicate with them."

"Ok, I kinda understand, but the big question is: How do I-"

=It's quite easy once you understand what's involved.= Sola heard, however Alakazam's lips never moved

"Whoah!! Then tell me how! Please?"

=Settle down, young one. The real secret is entering the mind of the person or pokemon you're trying to communicate with. It's much like mind reading, but you are not entering their mind to steal their thoughts, but to give them your own. However, I must advise you to continue practicing mind reading to prepare yourself for this.=

As Alakazam was telling Sola how to use thought communication, Seth reentered the room. Both Sola and Alakazam only became aware of his presence when he spoke up while sitting on the bedside.

"Sorry to interrupt anything, but I have something for Sola. Consider it a surprise, though." Seth said openly, but privately asked,

=How's she doing, Alakazam?=

=Splendid. She has learned how to probe into another's mind, and I was just about to tell her about thought communication. I suggest you prepare yourself in case she tries this on you to spoil the surprise.= Alakazam replied

"Ready to go, Sola?" Seth asked the Espeon

=Don't worry, Alakazam, I can take care of myself.=

Sola nods excitedly. Seth picks up the two balls left on the bed from before. Raising the Ultra Ball, he withdraws Alakazam, but not before he hints to Sola to try looking into Seth's mind to discover the surprise. Seth then places the two balls on his belt and motions for Sola to follow him.

_*This is like a pop quiz for me. Now, let's see what you have in store for me, Seth.*_

Seth and Sola exit the pokemon center and turn to head out to Ilex Forest. The town is now only lit by lights inside houses and a few lights showing where the roads are. Sola then looks upward. The sky is mostly a dark navy blue, with a couple of black-looking clouds. She then looks back to where she's walking and begins to focus on her trainer's mind, trying to uncover what he has in store for her. The street lamps highlighting the road in front of them come to a stop as they head underneath the entrance to Ilex Forest. Sola physically hesitates a moment before following Seth into the now-dark forest. The entire time, however, while trying to read Seth's mind, Sola keeps hitting a "wall" of sorts. The only things she was able to see in his mind, despite her best attempts, was a scene of a few trees, one with fruits on it, with a yellow glowing "stripe" behind them along with one word: Shadow. She stops trying to read Seth's mind when the forest begins getting really dark, and can barely see where she's going. After continuing a short distance into Ilex Forest, Sola hears a faint rustle in the greenery nearby. She bravely decides to investigate it. After straining to look around, she notices trees behind the shrubbery. Contrary to her vision in Seth's mind, this one didn't possess a tree with fruits on it, nor a yellow glowing "stripe" behind it. She then hears Seth calling for her and decides to hurry back to him, already a little frightened. Before she can turn back to Seth, however, she feels something. Looking around using her psychic abilities, she feels the presence of another nearby. This feeling is confirmed when a bright flash of yellow shines from behind one of the trees. Sola quickly retreats to Seth, startled by this sudden flash of light, but turns back after reaching Seth to see what it was. A black creature, with rings glowing faintly yellow, jumps out from behind the tree she investigated. When it entered the open path, the figure takes the shape of a dog: namely an Umbreon, with rings pulsating brighter with a golden yellow color. Sola prepared herself for a possible fight, but Seth's voice stopped her.

"Shadow? I could've sworn I asked you to wait further up the path. Anyway, Sola, this is Shadow- the nighttime Eevee evolution. He's the surprise I had for you. The two of you will actually be the mainstays for a new team altogether."

Sola, now recognizing the glowing "stripe" as the ring on the Umbreon's ear, now becomes a little mad and begins complaining.

"=You mean to tell me you had me come out here at night into this dark and creepy forest JUST so see another pokemon!? You know that there are probably other pokemon that will stalk us in the night using this forest to hide and attack and even HURT us!? Not to mention IT'S THE NIGHT! I can barely see my paws in front of my face, much less see anything potentially dangerous out there. Now HE pops out of the bushes- who even might NOT have been the pokemon you were expecting- and NOW you expect me to NOT be scared!?="

"Please, settle down. The only reason you didn't see my rings that well was because I was resting. I didn't mean to scare you, honest." Shadow said, trying to calm the now-mad Espeon

"=IT DOESN'T MATTER! You popping out at me like that made this whole trip even scarier for me. There are plenty of other pokemon out there that could attack us on sight! How am I supposed to know YOU weren't one of them!?="

Seth just stood there, shocked. As well as hearing Sola speaking in her own voice, he was also hearing her voice in his head. Alakazam had told him that Sola was only told about it, and had not been given the chance to try it yet. But there she was, using telepathy in her fit of anger. He looked at Shadow and silently asked him if he could hear Sola's voice in his head as well, which was returned with a nod of his head. After a while of ranting, Sola suddenly stopped because she saw Seth standing with a shocked expression on his face. She tilted her head to the side, wondering what shocked him. All three stood in silence for a moment before Seth spoke up again.

"So-Sola, are you aware of what just happened?" he asked.

_*Apart from being mad about being out here in the dark of night and almost being attacked, not really.*_ Sola thought, which was mirrored by her slightly confused expression.

"I heard you… and understood you. You were yelling in your mind, and Shadow and I both heard it perfectly. Sola… you were using telepathy!"

"I-… I was? Shadow, is this true?"

"Yup, I heard it too. It kinda took us off-guard." Shadow replied, nodding his head

"Sola… think you can try it again?" Seth asked

Sola simply shakes her head 'no' as she was just as confused as to how she pulled it off. Seth, opting to deter the curiosity for now, motions for them to head back out of the forest, much to Sola's relief. On the way back, however, Seth takes the time to explain something he knew Sola would ask, if she could.

"Sola, I was told by Alakazam that you might try to read my mind to spoil the surprise. So to keep the surprise a secret, I let you see the small things that I wanted you to see. It's another nifty thing I learned from working with psychic-types like Alakazam. You can essentially create a 'wall' of sorts inside the mind in order to prevent others from seeing things they shouldn't. On another note, I told both of you earlier that you will be the mainstays for my new team, so you both will be training for battle soon to hone your skills. This will help both you and me to understand your strengths and weaknesses, okay?"

They both nod. After exiting the forest and reentering Azalea Town, Shadow quickly apologizes to Sola for giving her such a scare. Sola was reluctant to forgive him at first, but eventually forgave him on the premise that he never try to scare her again. The three returned to Seth's room he reserved in the pokemon center and quickly went to sleep.

The following two weeks became quite busy for the two Eeveelutions. Starting in Ilex Forest, they began battling some of the local pokemon under Seth's guidance. Immediately, Sola showed more capacity for speed and special attacks using her new psychic powers. Shadow, on the other hand, showed more capacity for defense against both physical and special attacks. These advantages were shown very clearly in Seth's match against Whitney of Goldenrod City, along with some shortfalls. Sola couldn't handle many physical attacks, and Shadow wasn't very powerful in either physical or special attacks. After narrowly pulling out a victory against Whitney's Miltank, Seth quickly left the gym to get the two checked out at the pokemon center. While in the center, Seth became lost in thought on how to patch up their shortfalls. Sola and Shadow returned to see Seth spaced out looking at the ceiling. They both nudged him to get his attention.

"Oh? Sorry, you two. I guess I kinda got lost in thought. That battle with Whitney showed me that I might be falling behind in terms of training. So, for the time being, we'll be staying in the city to continue training. Sola, will you still want to practice your psychic powers with Alakazam?"

Sola shakes her head 'no'. Seth could see in her eyes that she wanted to perfect her powers her way.

"Alright, well if you two are ready, we can start in the National Park. Let's go." Seth said, getting out of the seat he was sitting in

With Seth leading the way, the three exit the pokemon center and began a short trek north to Goldenrod's National Park. Shadow questions Sola on the way.

"Hey, why did you refuse the special treatment? Don't you want to learn your powers quickly?" Shadow asked

"Well, you're not just gonna sit there and watch, are ya? You're gonna be training too."

"Of course I'm gonna be training, but how am I involved in this?"

"Hehehe. Just play along."

As Sola says that she brushes her tail against the side of Shadow's head, causing Shadow to instinctively blush lightly. Both of them then hurry a little, realizing they are falling behind. Seth looks back to see the two Eeveelutions in a run catching up to him. Assuming they got distracted, he simply shrugs and the group continues onward. Once they reach the National Park, they continue training for battle. Sola begins learning some new moves that utilize her psychic powers- Confusion and Swift- while Shadow begins learning Dark elemental attacks- Bite and Pursuit. Both also use Quick Attack, but are quickly experiencing deficiency in its use, since neither of them showed strengths in physical attacks. After learning Confusion, Sola began to truly understand the extent of her powers. All of the abilities taught to her by Alakazam were getting real-world experience, and instead of simply being comfortable with these abilities, they became almost second-nature to her.

Later that afternoon, both Sola and Shadow became fairly worn out from the training, and Seth wisely decided to call it a night. On the way back, however, Sola attempts to communicate with Seth applying what Alakazam had taught her. She entered his mind and began projecting what she wanted to say.

=Seth… Do you really think Shadow and I are getting stronger?= Sola asked her trainer

=You just answered your own question by asking me that, Sola.= Seth replied

=H-huh? What do you mean?=

=You think I'm not paying attention to what's going on, Sola? This is the first time you've communicated with me via thought since the incident where you met Shadow. By practicing what you know and learning new moves, both of you have become quite strong in your own ways. I've just been thinking of ways to try and cover or eliminate your respective weak areas.=

=Then shouldn't you be talking to us more often about this? It is US your talking about here.=

=I know. But I do have a general plan on what to do already. I want to raise your physical defense, so incidents like the match versus Whitney won't be repeated. Shadow on the other hand, since his strong points are his defensive prowess, will be raising his attack power. How these goals will be accomplished though, I'm not entirely sure.=

=Well, I guess all we can do is follow your lead, then.=

=One question, Sola. How did you become so attuned to this ability already?=

=Shadow was helping me practice in between battles. I'm starting to enjoy doing this now.=

=Well, keep it up. It'll be very useful for you.=

The three slept in the pokemon center for the night. The next few days were spent training in the Goldenrod National Park and the area south of Goldenrod City. Taking some tips from Whitney and other local trainers, Seth had both Sola and Shadow face off against more specific pokemon, with positive reinforcement from Seth, in order to help cover up both of their shortfalls. Within the lulls between battles, Sola and Shadow quietly conversed with each other- getting to know where the other came from, what each of them like or dislike, and even about daily happenings they hear about. This resulted in a deepening bond between the two Eeveelutions, alongside the strengthening friendships they shared with Seth. This increasing bond eventually blossomed into a mutual attraction for each other. Seth immediately noticed the attraction between the two when they began wandering off by themselves to talk. He even witnessed Sola wrapping her tail around Shadow's tail when they wandered off once.

The specialized training took them over the span of another month through Ecruteak City, west to Olivine City, then eastward to Mahogany Town, the Lake of Rage, and finally Blackthorn City. Immediately upon entering Blackthorn City, however, Sola started to have a problem with her memory, as well as a decrease in her physical ability. Upon having her checked out at the nearby pokemon center, Seth then found out that Sola had become pregnant. Seth immediately withdrew the two Eeveelutions into their balls and took out Falcon the Pidgeot. Seth flew on Falcon back to Goldenrod City and traveled southward to the Day Care center located there. He gave Sola to the day care couple there and explained the situation. They accepted and took Sola into their care. Early the next day, the couple called Seth at the pokemon center reporting that she had given birth. Seth and Shadow literally ran from the city to see Sola again. She had given birth to a litter of five pups, three were male and two were female. Sola, while tired from the birth, still managed to smile at Seth and Shadow upon entering. The five Eevee pups were bounding and playing around with each other in the day care couple's yard. Shadow went straight to Sola to help comfort her, while Seth went to the day care couple.

"You must be proud, lad. Your Espeon is now a mother of five strong pups. And judging at how she's reacting to the Umbreon, he must be the father and Espeon's mate." the Day Care Man started

"Well, I knew they were becoming attracted to each other, but I didn't see this happening. Hearing the news that she was pregnant was a shock to me." Seth replied

"You were lucky you got her to us when you did. We've become quite accustomed to seeing pokemon that were left here mate and bear children. Some trainers keep them, others don't. What will you do with them?" the Day Care Lady asked

"I-… I honestly don't know. Having all of these little Eevees might help research and unlock something about their wide range of evolutions, not to mention that these are Sola and Shadow's children, but I can't have all five pups with me at all times… Lemme talk with them for a moment, please."

Seth walks over to Sola and Shadow, whom are relaxing side by side. Shadow had his head lying on top of Sola's, but they both raised their heads when Seth approached. Sola knew what was on his mind, since she overheard the conversation, thanks to the navigational training she received when she was an Eevee.

"Well, you two. What's going to happen with these five young ones? I want to take them, but I won't have room to keep all five of them with us at all times." Seth asked the two new parents

=Shadow and I want to keep all of them also. Why don't you train some of them and evolve them into those other forms you told me about. We can be like one big family.= Sola replied

"That still leaves two with nothing to do right now. But I guess Professor Oak can take care of them in the meantime… Alright, I'll go tell the day care couple, so you two need to round up the pups so we can leave."

=Thanks, Seth.=

Seth returns to the day care couple to inform them of his decision. He then gives the couple a generous tip for their services and leaves the Day Care Center with Sola, Shadow, and the five pups in tow. Seth then heads back to the Goldenrod Pokemon center to officially make the Eevee pups his pokemon. One male and one female were then instantly transported to Oak's laboratory from the PC system inside the center. Since they were still pups, however, Seth didn't begin training them right away. He instead observed them while he continued Sola's and Shadow's training back in Blackthorn City. One of the males loved to run around while traveling- and often got separated from the group-, the other male intently watched Sola and Shadow's battles and seemed to enjoy them. The female tended to remain calm and seemed to have a secure attachment to Sola. While traveling, Seth came up with their names: Jolt for the runner, Blaze for the battle enthusiast, and Misty for the calm lady.

Once Sola, Shadow, and himself felt that the pups were ready, Seth focused the training on the pups, beginning near Twinleaf and working forward. Seth eventually evolved all three at the same time with stones at Ecruteak City. Blaze became a Flareon, Jolt a Jolteon, and Misty a Vaporeon. After their evolutions, Seth began to implement specialized training for the three new members of his team, as well as furthering Sola and Shadow's progress in their training. Despite the divided attention, he was able to pace himself and accomplish both in stride, eventually merging Blaze, Jolt, and Misty into the same higher-level training as their parents, Sola and Shadow, in Blackthorn City. It was at that point when they all became one large family, with Seth at its head, offering encouragement and supporting each other through any adversity. The close family bond and support propelled Seth and his new "Eevee Team" through the Johto Gym rematches and eventually Seth's fifth win over the Pokemon League. After the Pokemon League victory, they were challenged by the Elite Four: Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha, and Lance. Despite many tough spots against each member, Seth and his team won and were offered a spot and the title of Pokemon League Member. Although unsure at first, everyone agreed and were initiated into the League later the same week. Even as members, they still continued to train together and grow stronger physically, mentally, and as a family, despite having to now occasionally answer to and take missions from the Pokemon League.

* * *

Author's Notes: This version is drastically different from my old handwritten version. The original handwritten version only took up 6 pages (3 sheets front and back) in script format, and the "Add-on" part (about how Sola learns her psychic powers and meets Shadow for the first time) was another 6 pages as an outline. Seeing this, I will probably make a revised handwritten version for myself somewhere down the line.

The whole add-on part about Sola learning her psychic powers actually came to me as I was starting to transfer the story from paper to computer. Eevee is technically the only pokemon that starts out without the ability to utilize any sort of psychic powers and then evolves into forms that do. (I say forms since Umbreon can use Psychic via TM in-game)

The whole "litter of pups" thing comes from my opinion that not all pokemon should hatch from or lay eggs. Since Eevees and their evolutions are very dog-like, I decided to use the real world reference and have her more-or-less have a litter of pups.

You may ask "What will happen to the other two Eevees?" Originally, there were only going to be 4 Eevee pups: 3 males and one female (the last male will reappear in the "futuristic" story). The extra female was another addition I made concerning the 4th generation of Pokemon. She will eventually become a Leafeon. However, since I don't have a story in the 4th generation yet, you won't see her for a while.


	2. A Crisis Faraway

Author's Notes: This is the second story in canonical order, as well as the second Pokemon short story I've written. Although this doesn't exactly follow the anime's canon (As they never boarded a ship going to Slateport that actually sunk), I still wonder if I captured the characters properly. In reference to the anime's canon, this is during Ash's Hoenn League journey.

To remind you:

Symbols Legend (Can overlap)

"Talking"

_*Thinking*_

=Telepathic Communication=

Please leave a review and enjoy.

~ZX

For those of you who don't know, Faraway Island is a hidden island location only in Pokemon Emerald version. You need the key item Old Sea Map (which is unreleased officially as far I know) and talk to the sailor in Slateport. Mew is the only resident in-game, and before you fight her, you play a sort of hide-and-seek game in a patch of really tall grass before encountering her. (I know it's technically an "it" but Mew looks very feminine, so I use "her"). I went there after my brother's Emerald game was hacked for all of the event items. (Eon Ticket, Mystic Ticket, Aurora Ticket, and Old Sea Map. E-bay ftw?)

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Pokemon or any individual aspect therein. Pokemon is copyrighted to Nintendo and Game Freak.

* * *

**A Crisis Faraway**

Location: Faraway Island, an island lush with trees and grass far out of reach from any mainland. This place is home to many weak 1st evolution pokemon and is also rumored to be the home of a rare pokemon. A pair of trainers are specifically appointed to protect this island as a preserve, and are replaced in one-year cycles. Currently, the two trainers appointed to guard the island are a male trainer named Seth, with his team of five Eeveelutions, and another female trainer named Tess (full name-Therese) whom has a Typhlosion, Blastoise, Bellossom, Gardevoir, and Banette.

Previously, Ash, Brock, May, and Max had boarded a "ship" destined for Slateport. However, because of a fatal mistake on the part of two Rockets, whom used the ship as a trap, the ship took damage and eventually sunk. The four are aboard a rescue raft taken from the ship before it went down, and have been floating for almost a day.

It is around midday and Ash, May, Max, and Brock are drifting with the current after the tragic accident. Soon, May spots a patch of land on the horizon

"Look! Land! Finally!" May exclaimed, pointing the others to what she sees.

"Awesome! Hopefully there'll be someone there to help us out." Max added, hope clearly shown in his voice.

"Yeah, our supplies were running thin. Maybe after we find out where we are, we can stock up and continue our journey." Brock said, slightly relieved.

Ash simply looked at the patch of land that May pointed out earlier.

"It seems too small" Ash stated "are we still in Hoenn?"

"I don't CARE how big or small it is, land is still LAND" May shouted, causing Ash, Brock, and even Max to flinch slightly.

After a few hours of drifting and occasional paddling, the three trainers and Max landed and went ashore on a beach _(A/N: Which is on the south side of the island, the dock is located just a mile to the East of their location)_. After getting off the raft and stretching for a bit, they were greeted by a sign that Brock noticed on the beach. The sign stated:

"Trainers Prohibited! Only the Chosen and their visitors may pass this point."

"Chosen? Who are they?" May asked.

"Looks like we're stuck on the beach." Max said, his tone now reflecting the lowering hopes of the party.

"An island that prohibits trainers?" Brock asked, "Max, you're not a trainer yet… maybe you can go check it out."

Just then, all four heard something lightly rustling in the bushes just past the sign, where a large forest begins, but they couldn't see anything or anyone.

"I'm going." Ash declared flatly.

"You can't, the sign says no trainers are allowed." May replied.

"She's right, Ash. These 'Chosen' could be like officers. There may be criminal charges for trespassing." Brock added.

"C-criminal…" Ash said as he imagined himself being put in a jail cell and the barred door closing in front of him.

Suddenly, a burst of yellow light shot out of the forest to their left, and quickly turned towards them. Ash, Brock, May, and Max all screamed and hit the ground covering their heads. The yellow light flew right in front of them and turned abruptly back into the forest. All of them then got back up, dusted the sand off of them and looked around for where the burst of light went to.

"Max…" Brock said, hinting that he should venture into the island.

Max nods understandingly and nervously walks toward the forest. He passes the sign and nothing happens to him. Max looks back to see Ash try and follow him, only to walk into an invisible barrier just before he even passes the sign. May, fearing for her younger brother's safety, decides to go with Max and, like Max, manages to walk past the sign without any difficulty.

"It's best if we wait here, Ash. May might be a trainer also, but she's only going because she cares for Max's safety. Don't take it personally." Brock said to the young trainer, whom had sat down next to him. Pikachu, whom had been on Ash's shoulder the entire time, decided to lie in the sand when Ash sat.

May and Max walked straight into the forest for a few minutes, which to them seemed like an hour. The forest was very dense, with countless trees obscuring most of the sunlight and long grass and bushes line the forest floor in large patches. Pokemon such as Pidgey, Zigzagoon, Sentret, and Taillow populate the forest floor as well, but constantly watched May and Max as they walked by. Just as they were feeling that they were lost, they noticed a cabin roughly ten yards in front of them. Excited and relieved to find the cabin, they walked to the cabin to see if anyone was inside it. As they came within a yard of the cabin, they were confronted by a Flareon and an Umbreon. The Flareon was in a battle pose and baring its teeth, while the Umbreon simply sat and stared at them as if waiting for someone else. As they were about to turn back in fear, they saw an Espeon calmly walk out of the thicket behind them, blocking their escape.

"Espee espeon esp." (Translation- "They washed ashore.") The Espeon told the Umbreon and Flareon.

"Umbreon umb. Breon umb umbreon." (Translation- "She's a trainer. You know she's not allowed here.") The Umbreon calmly replied.

"Stand down, you two. These two people are looking for help." A voice said from within the cabin, much to May's and Max's relief.

The Espeon behind them nods in an 'I told you so' manner and the Flareon and Umbreon move to the side, allowing May and Max to enter the cabin. Upon entering, they find that the cabin is largely undecorated. It was entirely one room with one bed to the right of the entrance, three wooden chairs lining the wall to the left of the entrance, and directly ahead was an individual facing them with an audio-only phone on a wooden desk behind him and a large window on the wall behind the desk. A small refrigerator sat to the left side of the desk. A single light fixture decorates the ceiling. The individual is wearing a black baseball cap with a half gold and half deep silver pokeball design on the front which is slightly visible behind the sunglasses resting on the top of the brim, revealing his emerald green eyes. He wears a black polo shirt with white fringe on the collar with a small half gold and half deep silver pokeball design with a navy blue banner wrapping behind it on the upper left area of the shirt. The pants are black jeans with a silver stripe running down the outer side of each pant leg on the seam with navy blue and white tennis shoes on his feet.

"Please, sit down" The individual told them, motioning to the chairs. "and explain to me who you are and why you are here."

May and Max took their seats and introduced themselves to the individual.

"My name is May, and this is my kid brother Max." May states, which is followed by a quick annoyed look to her by Max. "We're from the Hoenn region"

"I'm Seth. I am the 'owner', for lack of a better term, of the Flareon, Umbreon, and Espeon you saw earlier as well as a Jolteon and Vaporeon whom are also patrolling the island." Seth states as he takes the third chair and sits across from them. "Now for the matter of how you got here…"

"Well, we originally boarded a boat in Dewford Town which we thought would get us safely to Slateport City." Max started, "But it turned out to be a trap by two individuals from Team Rocket… Team Rocket is-"

"I know what Team Rocket is, Max." Seth interrupted, "They have constantly organized operations to capture rare and powerful pokemon, but they also try to steal other trainers' pokemon that they feel are powerful enough to accomplish their goals. This is the first time I've heard of them outside of Kanto and Johto, though. Anyways, continue."

"When Team Rocket tried to take our pokemon, we fought back, which accidentally damaged the boat." May continued, "The four of us took one of the lifeboats on the ship and managed to get away. Since we couldn't see any land or know our direction when we first got on the lifeboat, we simply floated along the ocean current. I think we got lucky we saw your island when we did."

"Well, to tell you the truth, it's not _my_ island." Seth replied, "So the currents took you here, huh? This island is known by few people and even fewer trainers, and is known as Faraway Island. It was probably named so due to the fact that it is located very far away from any sort of mainland. It is rumored to be the home of a rare pokemon. I happen to be one of the appointed guardians of the island. I guess you can say I'm one of the 'Chosen'."

"You're one of the Chosen?" Max said.

"Why are there Chosen anyway?" May inquired.

"Yeah, and how are they chosen?" Max added.

"Good questions." Seth stated, "The 'Chosen' are trainers that are recognized by various pokemon leagues for having large hearts as well as having well-trained companions. The title of 'Chosen' is simply the term and title used for the trainers appointed to guard this island for the year."

"Interesting." May replied.

"To tell you the truth, the title makes the task of guarding this island look more exciting than it actually is." Seth added, ending with a short laugh. "Since, like I said before, few know about this island."

"I thought as much." Max said, giving a short laugh as well.

"Hmm… You still wonder why your friend, the famous Ash, was prevented from entering, yet you were able to enter." Seth asked the young female trainer.

"Y-yes." May replied, slightly shocked.

"Well, my Espeon, Sola, read his mind. She is the one that blocked him for I hope a good reason. Anyway, the reason all trainers are prohibited is because this is, in a fashion, a pokemon preserve." Seth explained.

"A pokemon… preserve?" Max questioned.

"Yes. Pokemon here all seem to have a great dislike for battling." Seth continued "They don't even fight other species and seem to live in harmony, regardless of who is around them. If a trainer were to capture one and force it to fight, they often break and run from the trainer. In some cases, like in an aggressive species by nature such as Spearow, they retaliate against the trainer before fleeing. It's almost as if they say 'Why are you doing this to me?'"

"Oh, I see." May quietly replied.

"The Pokemon League appoints the trainers that, in their eyes, far exceeded what they believe to be the standard trainer. But that not only meant strong partners, but also a large and kind heart to all pokemon. These 'Chosen' protect the island with their allies that have been through thick and thin." Seth concluded.

Seth then got up from his seat and motioned for May and Max to do the same. Seth then led the other two outside, where five Eeveelutions were all sitting and seemed to be waiting for them. Seth began introducing each of them.

"The Espeon is Sola, the Umbreon is Shadow, and the Flareon is Blaze. These three you met in-person already. The Jolteon is Jolt, and the Vaporeon is Misty. These are my companions during my stay here on the island."

"They're… _all_ Eevee evolutions." Max said quietly to himself.

"You may invite your friends here to this cabin. I'll consider you my visitors while I work out a way to get you back to where you came. However, everyone MUST come straight back here. Sola will be watching you in case you try anything funny." Seth said, indicating that the Espeon will be joining them.

As May and Max prepared to relay Seth's invitation, they saw the band of Eeveelutions begin to disband. The Flareon walked off towards the other side of the cabin heading north, and the Vaporeon began walking off to their right, humming to herself. The Jolteon- much to their surprise- bolted off in a large flash of yellow light. The Umbreon, however, simply sat near the doorway that Seth had reentered. May and Max carefully made their way back through the forest with the Espeon following and watching them from a small distance. Upon returning to the beach, May and Max began to relay what they learned. Sola remained in the forest, watching the four humans with both her eyes and her psychic abilities.

"There's a person on this island named Seth. He's one of the 'Chosen' the sign refers to." May began. "He has decided to invite all of us to his cabin while he finds a way to get us back to Hoenn."

"Wait, we're not in Hoenn anymore?" Brock asked, as Pikachu hops back onto Ash's shoulder.

"No, he told us that this place is called 'Faraway Island'. This place isn't near any mainland, which makes us very lucky we saw it, because almost nobody knows about it." Max replied.

"I told you this place was too small, May. It's just an island." Ash boasted, which causes May to fluster.

"HEY! You couldn't tell that just by looking at the land." May shot back to the raven haired trainer.

"Let's just go before this situation gets any worse and they involve us." Brock said to Max.

Brock and Max started walking inland towards the forest, and were quickly followed by Ash and May once they noticed they were alone on the beach. As Max led the way, their path was quickly blocked by the Espeon that followed May and Max back to the beach.

"Sola? Why are you stopping us?" May asked.

"Sola? Is that the name of this Espeon?" Brock quickly asked.

"Yeah, Sola is the Espeon. She is one of the pokemon with Seth on this island. She's going to escort us back to the cabin." Max replied to Brock's question.

"Then why aren't we going anywhere?" Ash asked.

Sola, sitting upright in the middle of the pathway, looks up towards Ash and notices the Pikachu still out of its pokeball.

"Espee, espeon, esp." (Translation- "You, Pikachu, come here.") The Espeon said, looking at Pikachu.

Pikachu quickly hops off of Ash's shoulder and walks toward the Espeon.

"Es espeon espeeon espy?" (Translation- "How come you aren't in a pokeball?") Sola asked the Pikachu.

"Pika piko pikachu pik. Pik, pikachu piko" (Translation- "Ash and I are good friends. Plus, I hate being in the ball.") Pikachu replied.

"What are they talking about?" May asked, with no answer given.

"Espee espeon, esp?" (Translation- "Can you promise me this, then?") The Espeon continued.

"Piko?" (Translation- "What?")

"Esp espeeon esp spee, espeon ESP espeon espee espeon." (Translation- "No matter what Ash tells you, do NOT attack or battle any of the wild pokemon.")

"…Pika, pikachu pik." (Translation- "…Ok, I promise.")

Pikachu, after promising, hops back onto Ash's shoulder, and the Espeon begins to lead the four humans back to the cabin. Again, many young pokemon, such as Pidgey, Taillow, Rattata, and Zigzagoon, carefully watched the humans as they walked by. Halfway to the cabin, Ash was tempted to catch one of the native pokemon, but he was quickly talked out of it by both Pikachu and May. Upon reaching the cabin, May and Max find Shadow the Umbreon still sitting by the doorway, as if waiting for their return. Sola walked up to the Umbreon and quietly talked with him for a little bit as May, Max, Ash, and Brock made their way inside the cabin. Once all 4 humans were inside, Sola and Shadow left together to continue patrolling the island. May, Max, Ash, and Brock were met with a small table with some concessions: clean drinking water, and plates with edible fruits and berries. May and Ash immediately took the two available chairs, and Ash began eating some of the food. Seth was sitting at the wooden desk on the far side of the room facing away from them and looking out the window. The four visitors could then see the large emblem decorating the back of his polo shirt. The design is a pokeball- half gold on top and half deep silver on the bottom. The words "Kanto Pokemon" are sewn in white on the top half of the pokeball and the words "League Member" are sewn in white on the bottom half. Above the pokeball is a navy blue banner with a lighter blue outline. "Seth" is sewn inside the banner in white. Upon hearing them enter, he rose from the chair he was using and offered the chair for either Max or Brock to use.

"So, as May and Max have probably told you two already, I'm Seth. I'm one of the 'Chosen', should you want to call it that, assigned by the Pokemon League to guard this island. You two must be Ash and Brock." Seth said.

"Yeff, I'm Aff of Pallet Town." Ash replied with a mouthful of fruit.

"Wait… we never told you their names…" Max said, suspicious of Seth's foreknowledge.

"I'm from Kanto myself, Max. I lived in Viridian City. After getting my pokemon, I challenged the Kanto gyms one by one. Brock's gym was first in line for anyone taking the Kanto gym challenge. As for Ash, well he's made quite the name for himself over the years." Seth replied, showing a subtle hint of distaste for Ash.

"So were you able to get a ship to take us back to Hoenn?" May asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Well, I got ahold of Seagallop, which is the only boat company that knows of this place and is the ship that brought my pokemon and I here in the first place. They're currently sorting through when they can get a ship here for you guys." Seth answered.

"Getting back to you being a 'Chosen'" Brock started, "Do you have other pokemon here protecting the island besides the Espeon and Umbreon we saw earlier?"

"Yes, along with Sola and Shadow, their children are here…" Seth began to answer.

"Ch-children!" May and Max exclaimed in unison.

"Yes, Blaze the Flareon, Jolt the Jolteon, and Misty the Vaporeon are all children of Sola and Shadow." Seth continued, "However, they have been working together for so long, I tend to treat Jolt, Misty, and Blaze as equals to Sola and Shadow. They are essentially one large family."

"I had thought you trusted all of them a lot if you're letting them roam the island like this." Brock said.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the island, Sola and Shadow are patrolling the island together. They eventually reach the east side of the island, which is a four-story cliff that abruptly drops off to the ocean _(A/N: The cliff encompasses most of the island, save for the south end, which is where the beach is)_. They admired the sight together for a little bit before they decide to head back inland. Sola suddenly freezes mid-turn, her ears slightly twitching. Shadow, noticing the Espeon wasn't following, turned back and saw her remaining completely still, eyes closed.

"Something wrong, Sola?" The Umbreon asked.

"I… I hear something… chopping the air… like in the city." Sola slowly replied, trying to concentrate on the sound.

"Chopping the air? Like an aircraft… or helicopter?" Shadow suggested.

"Helicopter. Definitely a helicopter." Sola confidently replied, "The sound is deeper, but it also sounds like there is more than one of them."

"I'm starting to hear it too, Sola. It's definitely heading this way." Shadow said, his ears now slightly twitching to focus on the new sound, "We should tell Seth about this immediately."

Both Shadow and Sola quickly bolted inland, Sola using her psychic abilities to navigate back to Seth's cabin and also send a telepathic message to the other three Eeveelutions about a possible threat. Upon reaching the cabin, they wasted no time and barged straight inside.

"=Seth! Seth!=" Sola shouted, both verbally and telepathically.

"Sola? Shadow? What is it?" Seth asked, immediately picking up on their apprehension.

"=Sola heard helicopters out in the distance. I began hearing them too, so they're definitely coming this way.=" Shadow replied.

"H-how do you understand what they're saying to you?" May asked, puzzled.

"I'll explain later. We have business to attend to." Seth replied while reaching for the phone on the desk. He punched a button on the phone's base before talking. "Calling Tess. Tess, we have a slight problem. Unidentified helicopters are approaching the island. Think you can lend a hand?"

"I would, but there seems to be a helicopter flying towards the north side of the island." A female voice said, heard from the phone base's speaker, "I'm gonna have to check that one out first. You think it's _them_?"

"No way to know until we investigate. If it is them, repulse them as quickly as you can." Seth replied.

"Finally, some action." The female voice quickly said before Seth places the phone back on the base.

"Who is '_them_' that the other person referred to?" Brock asked.

"Team Rocket." Seth simply replied, "But it could be another criminal group. Only way to find out is to meet them."

Seth, Ash, Brock, May, and Max stepped outside to find Jolt, Blaze, and Misty standing near the door waiting for them. Seth pressed a button on his watch and metallic "A" shaped wings spread from the sides of his backpack. The bottom opened up for an exhaust port as well. In a burst of heated compressed air, Seth flew upward above the dense tree line to look. He saw two helicopters preparing to land on the beach and motioned for the others below to head to the beach area. Seth returned to the ground and deactivated the jetpack to walk with them through the forest. Before they could even make it to the beach area, Rocket grunts began wandering inland and quickly encountered Seth, Ash, Brock, May, and, Max.

"Ash, Brock, May. I want each of you to take one of my team members to take care of these Rockets." Seth instructed, "May will use Misty, Brock will use Jolt, and Ash will use Blaze. Everyone ok with that?"

Everyone nods. Each of the Eeveelutions took their places near the trainers. Ash used Pikachu with Blaze, Brock sent out Forrtress with Jolt, and May sent out Beautifly with Misty. Seth had Sola and Shadow by his side. Each trainer fared very well against the Rocket grunts, due to the experience and strengths of the Eeveelutions. Upon reaching the beach, the trainers saw a helicopter that possessed two diagonally slanted rotors- one on the right side and one on the left. There was one Rocket more decorated then the previous grunts stepping out. He- a Rocket Executive- wore a white uniform with the red "R" instead of the normal black outfits worn by the grunts. He also didn't wear the "R" hat the grunts did, showing off his short sky blue hair. Three grunts accompanied him. The grunts tried to stop the group of trainers, but Ash, May, and Brock began battling the grunts with just their own pokemon. Blaze, Misty, and Jolt returned to Seth's side as he walked up to the Rocket Executive.

"I'm a guardian here," Seth stated, "you have to go through me to search the island for her."

"Zen ve shall vaste no time. Prepare yourself." The Rocket Executive replied.

The first pokemon sent out by the Rocket Executive was Arbok. Seth countered with Shadow the Umbreon. Arbok immediately lunged forward, mouth open and fangs dripping with a toxin- Poison Fang. Shadow didn't move and instead fired a purple-ish black blob from his mouth- Shadow Ball. As the Arbok was recovering from the previous attack, Shadow ran forward and hit Arbok in the decorated chest with Faint Attack. Arbok took the hit, but then began using its tail to bind Shadow in a Wrap. Shadow tried to fire off another Shadow Ball, but the constant constriction was making it difficult for him to concentrate. Instead, Shadow locked eyes with the Arbok and caught it with Confuse Ray when its head hovered over him, preparing to fire a Sludge Bomb. With the Confuse Ray successful, Arbok slightly loosened its grip on Shadow, allowing him to squirm free. Shadow then got a little distance and fired off another Shadow Ball, which hit the Arbok in the head, knocking it out. The K.O.d Arbok was withdrawn.

The next pokemon sent out was a Crobat. Seth called Shadow back to his side and had Jolt the Jolteon enter the battlefield. Crobat quickly used Astonish to catch Jolt off-guard, but Jolt used his own speed to dodge. Jolt quickly unleashed a Thunderbolt from his spiny fur on the recovering Crobat, but it also had plenty of speed to dodge the attack, climbing above it and swooping back down towards the Jolteon. Jolt faced the attacking Crobat and prepared to dodge an inevitable attack. Suddenly, the Crobat caught Jolt from a distance with Confuse Ray, causing Jolt to stagger in place. Seizing the opportunity, Crobat dove and attacked the confused Jolteon repeatedly with Wing Attack using all four of its wings. After several Wing Attacks, Jolt finally snapped himself out of the confusion and managed to dodge the next Wing Attack. After dodging, Jolt used his speed to build some distance between the two pokemon. Crobat gained some altitude and began swooping back at Jolt. Suspecting the same strategy, Jolt instead used Double Team to create two more copies of himself in a line. Crobat dove at the Jolteon in the center, since that is where the clones came from, in another Wing Attack. Much to the surprise of Crobat and the Executive, Crobat passed right through the middle Jolteon, and was struck down by Thunder from the real Jolt whom was off to the right _(A/N: This is from the Executive's POV, which is left from Seth's POV)_. The K.O.d Crobat is withdrawn.

The Rocket Executive was now becoming slightly angry; a look of annoyance covered his face. Without a word, he sent out his next pokemon, Golem. Seth called Jolt back to his side, and had Misty the Vaporeon enter the battlefield. Despite clearly having the type disadvantage, the Executive's face never changed and didn't make a switch. Misty, hoping to end the battle as soon as possible, charged forward enveloped in water _(A/N: Waterfall)_. Golem summoned a Sandstorm using the sand on the beach, which caused Misty to stop her attack and try to bear the barrage of sand. Golem charged through, naturally unhindered by the Sandstorm, and crashed hard into the Vaporeon with Double Edge. Misty flew backwards and hit the ground rolling on her side. The Golem walked back into the thicker section of the Sandstorm as the Vaporeon began to recover, making Golem tough to see. Misty was slow to get back up due to the Sandstorm, but once she got back on all fours, she fired a Blizzard from her mouth to counteract the Sandstorm. With the Sandstorm no longer providing sanctuary, Misty then launched a Hydro Pump straight at the Golem. Golem, however, managed to jump upwards, causing the large burst of water to miss and fly harmlessly out to sea. Golem then placed all of its weight in the fall and crashed back onto the beach in an Earthquake. The loose sand, however, absorbed the Golem's feet, and the Earthquake quickly dissipated before reaching the Vaporeon or anyone else. Misty seized the opportunity and hit the trapped Golem with another Hydro Pump, freeing it and pushing it back to the Executive knocked out. The K.O.d Golem is withdrawn.

At this time, May- accompanied by Max- succeeded in finishing her battle with the Rocket grunt and began watching Seth's match against the Executive. Ash also finished, but decided to see if Brock needed any help. The Executive's next pokemon was Steelix, which quickly took over a large section of the battlefield with its massive size. Seth called Misty back and motioned Blaze the Flareon onto the battlefield. Blaze showed a smirk as he bared his fangs at the Steelix, clearly not intimidated by the large steel serpentine. Steelix moved first, lunging forward with its jaw wide open _(A/N: Crunch)_. Blaze jumped sideways to dodge the attack and quickly burrowed underground. The Executive gave a quick, loud laugh as the Steelix brought up the glowing tail section of its body, then smashed it back onto the sand in an improvised "Earthquake" using Iron Tail. Again, the sand dissipated the "Earthquake" before it reached the trainers. Seth gritted his teeth, uncertain of the Flareon's condition after the attack. Several agonizing seconds passed before, suddenly, Blaze erupted out of the sand behind the Steelix, a large fireball clearly visible at the mouth area. Upon reaching his maximum height, Blaze unleashed a Fire Blast right at the back of the Steelix's head, causing it to roar in pain. Blaze, upon landing in the soft sand, immediately followed up with Flamethrower, scorching the body of the Steelix. The Steelix, after several seconds of being burned, managed to fire off a Dragonbreath at Blaze, which ended the Flareon's attack as he barely dodged. The Steelix then quickly succumbed to the burns covering his body as he fell to the sand with a crash. The K.O.d Steelix is withdrawn.

Blaze sauntered back to Seth, knowing his work was done, as Ash and Brock joined May and Max in watching Seth finish up his match. The Executive was now on his last pokemon and he knew it, but he smiled, knowing what his last pokemon was. He quickly threw the last ball into the air. Nidoking came out stomping its legs and roaring, itching to fight. Seth turns and nods at Sola the Espeon, whom cautiously enters the battlefield. Nidoking wasted no time and charged forward, head lowered and horn glowing a greenish in a Megahorn attack. Sola was about to use Calm Mind to focus, but was forced to dodge the incoming attack, as this Nidoking moved much faster than those from most other trainers. She managed to focus her mind as the Nidoking overshot and recovered from his miss. Sola then fired Swift from her forehead gem, hoping to stun or distract the Nidoking. Much to the surprise of everyone, he simply used Protect, the barrage of stars simply bounced off of the barrier shield in all directions. Sola simply stood where she was, stunned that this pokemon wasn't simply an attacking machine. After blocking the Espeon's attack, Nidoking leaped into the air towards his opponent, landing just in front of her and hit her twice with Double Kick. Sola staggered backwards, trying to recover and gather her thoughts. Nidoking charged forward in another Megahorn, but Sola dodged it again, but this time she fired a Psybeam from her forehead gem as the Nidoking recovered from his miss. Nidoking once again did an about-face and used Protect to block the Espeon's attack.

"It looks hopeless…" May said, "Sola's attacks can't get through!"

"Don't worry, May. I still have a couple more cards in my hand. I just hope I don't have to use them." Seth reassured her.

Sola kept pushing at the Nidoking with Psybeam for a few seconds before stopping and observing. Nidoking stopped protecting when her attack let up, looked at the Espeon and gave an evil smirk. He leaped forward towards the Espeon again, but this time, he lead with his head in another Megahorn. Sola stopped the attack, and Nidoking, in midair with Psychic and quickly repulsed him. Nidoking landed on his feet and he along with the Executive showed annoyance on their faces. Nidoking charged again, this time his feet were slightly glowing, a hint that he was going to use Double Kick again. Sola fired a Psybeam straight into the Nidoking's chest, pushing him back again. This made the Nidoking go into a rage and started charging with Thrash, his arms almost aimlessly flailing in front of him. This was the opening that Seth and Sola were looking for, as Sola quickly dodged the Nidoking's first strike and hit him in the back with another Psybeam. This angered Nidoking even more as he turned around and charged with Thrash once again. This time, however, he used the incredible speed that he displayed in the beginning of the match. Sola had no time to react and dodge, so instead she met him head on, creating another Psychic wall. She stopped the Nidoking's charge just inches from herself. With the Nidoking's full strength bearing down on the barrier and not just his weight, Sola struggled trying to keep him at bay. Just when it seems the Nidoking will break through, Sola gets an idea and slants her Psychic barrier in such a way that the Nidoking is simply redirected and runs into a tree at the dense forest's beginning, getting his horn stuck in the trunk. As the Nidoking struggles to escape, Sola focuses her mind again with Calm Mind, then uses Psychic to pull the Nidoking away from the tree, pick him up into the air, and slam him back into the sand. When the dust settles, Seth and the Executive realize that the Nidoking is knocked out. Sola pants for a few seconds, having used quite a bit of her energy on that last attack, then noticed that her opponent is K.O.d and ran back to Seth, happiness and pride clearly shining on her face.

"You're defeated. You will leave now… before we make you." Seth stated to the Executive, whom was fuming at his loss.

"Just you vait, kid. Ve vill rise to power again and take control of ze world." The Executive stated before angrily walking back to the helicopter with the grunts. Suddenly, the Executive whipped back around and began sprinting inland, trying to somehow pass the trainers and search the island himself. Before he could even make it to the forest's beginning, he runs into an invisible barrier, knocking him onto his back. As the Executive got up, he heard a light giggle from Sola the Espeon. He shot an evil glare at the Espeon, which caused her to stop laughing and instead, drag the Executive back into the helicopter using Psychic. She then started up the helicopter, causing the pilot to take the controls and began flying away from the island. After the helicopter began flying away from the island, Seth wrote a note on a small scrap of paper and had Jolt deliver it to Tess on the other side of the island. After Jolt took off in a burst of yellow light, Seth, Ash, Brock, May, Max, the rest of the Eeveelutions, and a Pidgey which had perched itself on Seth's shoulder during his battle with the Executive returned to Seth's cabin. Blaze, Misty, and the Pidgey split off from the group to return to what they were doing previously. May once again showed her curiosity after the group settled back into the cabin.

"Ok, how were you able to understand what your pokemon were saying to you before?" she asked, impatiently.

"Telepathy, May." Seth replied, "It's a special ability only available to Psychic types or those that can learn psychic moves. It can also be used to talk to the rest of your pokemon, psychic or not."

"This is very interesting, Seth. I guess everyone's always learning new things." Brock said.

"They're beautiful, yet strong enough to do their duty." May said, softly.

"Thanks, you two." Seth said, before hearing the phone ring on the desk behind him.

Answering the call, Seth kept it off of speakerphone and talked silently with the caller while Ash, May, Brock, and Max spent some time with Sola and Shadow. Seth talked for a few minutes before turning back to the group.

"Good news." Seth began, "Seagallop is sending a HI Speed ship our way as we speak. It'll be here in a few minutes, so all of you should get ready for your trip back to Hoenn."

"YES! We can finally continue our journey!" May and Ash exclaimed together.

Ash, May, Brock, and Max were escorted to the dock by Seth, Sola, and Shadow. As they boarded the ship and were about to set sail, they all heard:

=I have a distinct feeling that we'll see each other again down the road. I don't know when, but when we do, hopefully it will be on more… casual grounds.=

The group looked back to see Seth, Sola, and Shadow simply standing on the dock, lips unmoving, with a lone Pidgey perched on Seth's shoulder.

"That is so cool!" Max exclaimed.

Brock took a closer look at the Pidgey and noticed a blueish tint in its eyes.

"Hey… There is something different about that Pidgey that is with Seth there." He said.

Before anyone else could look and comment, the ship took off in a large burst of speed eastward, returning the trainers back to Hoenn to continue their journey.

* * *

Author's Notes: Getting motivation to write is a task in and of itself, especially when the times you get inspiration are in places where you have no way of writing down the ideas that pop into your head. I also recently had a temporary job for a while helping out a former teacher of mine with her huge garden, which hurt my already slow progress on this story.

If you hate waiting this long for chapter updates, I apologize, but I share this one computer (the only one with internet connection) with 4 other family members in my house. You're just going to have to be patient for updates from me.


	3. The First Encounter

Author's Notes: This was the 4th Pokemon short story I've written. In reference with the anime's canon, this is during the Kanto Battle Frontier saga. This is the longest chapter so far and has a lot of dialogue, just to let you know.

To remind you:

"Talking"

_*Thinking*_

=Telepathic Communication=

Please leave a review and enjoy!

~ZX

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Pokemon or any individual aspect therein. Pokemon is copyrighted to Nintendo and Game Freak.

* * *

**The First Encounter**

Ash, now trying his hand at the Battle Frontier, is traveling in the new Kanto with his friends May, Brock, and Max. As they head for the next destination, Celadon City, they do not suspect a pair of eyes watching them from the thicket off the pathway.

=Seth, Ash is here with his friends, the same ones that washed up on the island. No doubt he's challenging the Battle Frontier.= An Espeon said, spying the four humans on the pathway.

=Ash, eh? Good. It will do her some good if I battle against a real trainer. We'll be on our way. Find a place to stall them, if you can. I'll send another your way to help.= The Espeon's trainer replied.

The Espeon silently pursued the trainers until the pathway they were walking on opened up to a large clearing with many worn out patches, suggesting many battles took place here. She was about to tell the four humans to halt when she noticed them all stop and comment on something up the path. She looked up the path to see a Jolteon passively walking down the path towards the four humans.

"A Jolteon?" Brock asked, "Do they really live around these parts?"

"Jolteon are very fast pokemon. I think one would definitely help." Max suggested.

May didn't immediately chime in, as she felt something out of place about the Jolteon's appearance. Ash on the other hand, called out his best buddy, Pikachu, to battle with and help catch it. Ash immediately ordered Pikachu to attack with Iron Tail, but the Jolteon easily stepped away from the attack. Pikachu tried another five times to hit the Jolteon, but each attack was swiftly dodged. Ash then ordered Pikachu to attack with Thunderbolt, which got a shocked look from Brock and Max. Pikachu jumped back in front of its trainer and quickly fired off the Thunderbolt towards the Jolteon. As the Jolteon braced for an inevitable hit, the attack hit an invisible barrier and flew up harmlessly into the sky. Ash, Max, May, and Brock all looked at where the "barrier" reflected the Thunderbolt in disbelief. Then a vaguely familiar voice spoke from further up the pathway.

"Sorry to disappoint, but that Jolteon is mine."

"Wha- Who is that?" May asked, looking around.

The four humans looked toward the Jolteon to see a young man walking toward them wearing a short sleeve black shirt and black jeans, sunglasses over his eyes, and spiky yellow hair. Once he reached the Jolteon and stood next to it he spoke up again.

"Remember me?" he asked.

"Ah… that voice…" Brock said, thinking of where he heard it before.

The new trainer withdrew the Jolteon back into its pokeball as the Espeon silently watching them earlier darted out from the bushes and ran to the trainer's side.

=Good job, Sola.= He told the Espeon while patting her on the head.

"Don't you remember that I helped you guys out when you washed up under my watch during your Hoenn League journey?" He asked the four puzzled humans.

"Wait, now I remember you! You're Seth from Faraway Island!" Brock shouted, remembering the events. This jogged Ash, May, and Max's memories as well as they immediately recognized his uniform.

"There you go!" Seth said as he snapped his fingers toward the four. "Surprised to see me?"

"Well, it certainly was a long time since we saw you. We almost didn't recognize you." Max said.

"Nice to see you again." Ash said, which was quickly followed by a greeting from Ash's Pikachu.

"Long time no see." May added.

"Hey, my time on Faraway Island only ended a few months ago, so it's not like I could just pop in and say 'Hi' or anything." Seth said, ending with a short laugh.

"That's very true." Brock replied. "By the way, were there any other… incidents on the island after we left?"

"Nope." Seth replied, "It went back to being quite static and boring after that. I hated being bored on the island, but perhaps it was better off that way for the island's sake."

"Yeah." May said quietly, before asking, "So why are you here now? More official business?"

"Actually, no, May." Seth replied, "I'm actually taking a break to re-explore my homeland. I've been away for quite some time with tasks from the League, so my Eevee Team and I decided to take a break. It's gotten a lot busier here since the Battle Frontier set up here, eh?"

"Yeah, definitely not like when you and Ash first started your journeys." Brock stated, "It was just the Gyms then, but now there are also seven Frontier locations and many more Pokemon Contest locations."

"Heh, it's not often a Gym Leader recognizes one of their former challengers so easily." Seth said as he quickly closed his eyes, remembering his beginnings.

"Oh yeah, you did tell us you were from Kanto. It's only natural you challenged Brock if he was the current gym leader then." Max said.

"You were part of the last group of trainers I faced that used the starters handed out by Professor Oak before I started traveling with Ash." Brock said, remembering his gym leader days. "If I remember correctly, you had started with Bulbasur, right?"

"Right again, Brock." Seth replied.

"Wait, you started at the same time as I did?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, I did, Ash. We never really met face-to-face, but I heard from Gary Oak that you were the fourth starting trainer. Faraway Island was our first personal encounter." Seth responded, "I had seen your face on television when you placed in the Kanto Conference and the Silver Conference, both of which I skipped in order to keep training."

"I see… but wait, if you started with Bulbasaur, why didn't we see it on Faraway Island?" Ash wondered.

"During my times in Johto, I sort of had a revelation to start finding things out about Eevee and its evolutions. Around that same time, Bill- the creator of the PC storage system- entrusted me with a special Eevee. That Eevee eventually became Sola here." Seth said as he pat his Espeon on the top of her head, "After forming this team of Eevee evolutions, the pokemon I formerly used, including Venusaur, finally got to take some well-earned vacation time at Professor Oak's lab. I still battle with them on occasion to keep their skills fresh."

"Ok… So with the Frontier locations placed around Kanto, are you going to challenge the Frontier here during your free time?" May asked.

"I hadn't planned on it, May. However, it may be a step up from all of these other trainers who see my League uniform and challenge me to a battle. All of the battles were very short and many of them didn't have many badges. It's gotten to the point where I refuse many of them now because I can almost envision the outcome when I see their pokemon. I really don't want to crush their dreams." Seth said, with a hint of depression in his voice.

"It must be tough rejecting battles, Seth. Especially with some trainers who think they're better than anyone else. It's easy to feel sorry for them when they finally realize that there is a lot to learn about the pokemon world." Brock responded, trying to sympathize.

"Every time, I offered helpful words of advice to the ones who challenged me just to see how they've improved over the days, and most of the encounters were very friendly." Seth continued, "The few ones who think they're better than anyone else threatened me if I didn't battle them… After beating them, they all had the worst look in their eyes. There was nothing else I could really tell them except 'Go train some more'. They brought their own shame upon them."

"That sounds a little mean…" May said.

"Ash, I've seen some of your battles in the Pokemon League Conferences… are you going to use that skill in the Frontier as well?" Seth asked, changing the subject slightly.

"Yeah! I've already got a couple of Frontier Symbols, and I won't stop until I win them all!" Ash replied with confidence.

"Then there's one thing I wish to ask you" Seth said to Ash, "and I don't say this very often."

"What's that?" Ash replied.

"Ash… _I_ wish to challenge _you_ to a battle." Seth said, looking straight into his eyes.

"Wait, you're challenging _me_?" Ash replied, shocked. Both May and Max showed shocked expressions on their faces also.

"What? Is it that rare for a trainer to challenge another trainer to a match?" Seth asked.

"Well, it's not every day that a trainer gets challenged by a League member. Usually it's the other way around." Brock said.

"That's very true." Seth said, quickly rubbing the back of his head, "But I think I speak for my whole team when I say we need a good challenge to keep our motivation and spirits high."

"If you're looking for a challenge-" Ash said as he pumps his right fist forward and gives a thumbs up, "then you've got one! We accept!"

"Pi-Pikachu!" Ash's Pikachu said, as if also accepting the challenge.

Quickly the clearing turned into a battlefield with Ash and Seth standing on opposite sides. May and Max were off to one side of the battlefield near the center as an audience, and Brock was in between the competitors as the official. Sola the Espeon sat by Seth's side, and Pikachu stood by Ash's side. Just before the battle started, May noticed a girl walk down the path that Seth came from, but she sat at the base of a tree in the shade and began writing on what appeared to be a notebook while looking at the battlefield. Her attention quickly shifted back to Brock when he spoke up.

"This is a battle between Ash and Seth. This will… wait. What kind of battle are you guys going to have?"

"Double Battle." Seth responded, "With each trainer using five pokemon."

"Ok then." Brock said, "Are you okay with that, Ash?"

"Fine by me." Ash replied.

"Okay," Brock said, "it will be a five-on-five double battle. There will be no time limit and both trainers will be allowed to substitute pokemon. The battle is over when all five of the trainer's chosen pokemon are unable to battle. Are both sides ready?"

"Ready." Ash responded almost immediately.

"Yes. Ready." Seth answered.

"Then let this battle BEGIN!" Brock announced, before going to the sideline of the battlefield.

"Grovyle, Torkal, I choose YOU!" Ash shouted as he tossed his pokeballs onto the battlefield. Out of the pokeballs appeared a green gecko with leaves protruding from its arms and a large orange-skinned turtle with a dark gray shell.

"Ah, opposites are fun." Seth said, showing amusement. "My turn. Blaze, Misty, Let's go!"

Seth's pokeballs opened to reveal two dog-like pokemon. One was a Flareon which was a bright orange with its collar/mane and large fire-like tail being a golden yellow. The other was a Vaporeon, which was an aqua color with a large mermaid tail and fish-like fins on her head.

"Either one of us can make the first move. It really doesn't matter to me that much." Seth said as the pokemon took their positions in front of their respective trainers on the battlefield.

"Then I'll start. Grovyle, use Leaf Blade on Vaporeon!" Ash commanded.

The green gecko ran forward as the leaves by its right hand started to glow. The glowing leaves then formed a large blade just before Grovyle crossed the center of the battlefield.

"Blaze, downgrade your Flamethrower and set the ground in front of you ablaze." Seth commanded.

The Flareon quickly jumped a few feet in front of the Vaporeon and exhaled a Flamethrower on the ground in front of him. Some patches of grass lit up, forming a wall of fire that halted the Grovyle's attack. The Grovyle stopped just inches from the flames and jumped back toward its trainer.

"Torkal, protect Grovyle by using Body Slam against that Flareon." Ash confidently commanded.

"Misty, counter with Waterfall against the Torkal." Seth quietly said to his Vaporeon.

The Torkal took several large bounds before leaping high into the air and sailing over the wall of fire. But before it could fall onto the Flareon, it was intercepted in mid-air by Misty, who was enveloped in water. Both pokemon's attacks collided and both flew back toward their respective trainers. Misty the Vaporeon used her tail to regain her balance in the air and landed on all four paws. Ash's Torkal, however, landed on the top of its shell in a loud crash. When the dust settles, Torkal is revealed to be knocked out.

"Torkal is unable to battle." Brock announces.

As Ash withdraws his knocked out Torkal, Seth notices his Vaporeon lean forward a tad and all of her muscles suddenly go tense with greenish-yellow sparks surrounding her.

"Paralyzed. What are the odds…" Seth utters to himself before looking back towards Ash to see his next choice.

"Swellow, I choose YOU!" Ash shouted as he tossed his next pokeball into the air. Out of the ball appeared a large navy blue and white bird with red decorating its face. It took its place alongside Grovyle on Ash's side of the field as the flames Blaze lit earlier began to die down. Ash looked at his two pokemon and came up with a strategy just as the flames ceased.

"Alright, Grovyle, try to attack that Vaporeon again with Leaf Blade!" Ash commanded.

The Grovyle gave Ash an unsure look, but seeing the smirk on his face reassured it. Grovyle once again charged forward with the leaves near its hand forming the blade again.

"Didn't work the first time, won't work this time. Blaze, defend Misty." Seth replied.

The Flareon once again took a position in front of Vaporeon and prepared to repeat the same strategy before another command was issued.

"Now, Swellow, attack the Flareon now with Aerial Ace! And Grovyle jump over the attack!" Ash commanded.

Before Seth could react, Grovyle leaped straight up into the air, revealing an extremely low-flying Swellow that had an aircraft-like halo surrounding it. Blaze would have no time to dodge, so Seth would have to make a risky call.

"Misty, use Blizzard to disrupt their team attack!" Seth said.

Before the Vaporeon could try to attack, the greenish-yellow sparks returned, paralyzing her on the spot. With the potential counter ruined, Blaze was lifted into the air, flipping rapidly, after being hit with Aerial Ace. Ash took advantage of the openings.

"Grovyle, use Solar Beam while you're in the air on the Vaporeon! And Swellow, use Quick Attack to keep hitting the Flareon!" He said with a smile on his face.

"Not good…" Seth uttered under his breath. "Misty fight off the paralysis and keep trying to use Blizzard. Blaze, try to recover and use Flamethrower to move yourself in the air." He told his pokemon.

The Grovyle, still in midair from its giant leap earlier, began glowing as it absorbed the sunlight. Blaze tried to re-right himself in the air, but was constantly being hit by an extremely fast-moving Swellow, making it near impossible to concentrate and use his Flamethrower. Just as Grovyle was finished charging up Solar Beam, Misty was able to break out of the paralysis and looked up toward the Grovyle. The Vaporeon then exhaled a massive Blizzard from her mouth as Grovyle fired its Solar Beam. The Solar Beam, being a concentrated attack, pierced straight through the Blizzard towards the Vaporeon. The Blizzard, however, began to concentrate itself around an area of disturbance caused by the Solar Beam. Both attacks hit their opponents at the same time. Swellow delivered one final Quick Attack to knock Blaze the Flareon straight to the ground, and he landed inside the dust cloud created by the Solar Beam's impact. While waiting for the dust to subside on Seth's side of the field, Brock noticed Grovyle fall to the ground, knocked out from the powerful Blizzard.

"Grovyle is unable to battle." Brock announces.

After several agonizing seconds, the dust finally settles, revealing both Blaze and Misty to be knocked out from the attacks.

"Both Flareon and Vaporeon are unable to battle as well. Both trainers have now lost two pokemon." Brock announces.

Ash withdraws his defeated Grovyle and praises it for its good work. Seth also withdraws his knocked out pokemon.

"You both did well. I'm proud." Seth says to the pokeballs holding his Flareon and Vaporeon.

Both trainers thought for a few seconds on which pokemon to use next. Ash was the first to send out his pokemon.

"Corphish, I choose YOU!" He shouts as the throws the ball into the air. The small red and white crawfish-like pokemon, upon reaching the ground fidgeted left and right in place, eagerly awaiting the battle ahead. Ash's Swellow hovered over the Corphish.

"I guess it's time to step it up a bit, eh Sola?" Seth asked his Espeon, whom nods in agreement. "Ok, time for you and Shadow then."

As the Espeon walked out onto the battlefield, Seth tossed another pokeball out. The ball opened to reveal an Umbreon with brightly glowing yellow rings. He stood in front of Sola, as if ready to protect her.

=Alright, you two know what to do. Let's surprise them by using… unspoken commands.= Seth telepathically told Sola and Shadow.

=Understood.= Shadow replied.

=This will really make things fun.= Sola replied as she cracked a smile.

"Both competitors are ready. Resume!" Brock announced.

"Swellow, let's start out by using Aerial Ace on the Umbreon." Ash immediately commanded.

Ash's Swellow flew upwards and back in a small loop. When it came down from the loop, Swellow flew very low to the ground, once again covered in an aircraft-like halo. Swellow sped towards the Umbreon with amazing speed.

=Sola, begin concentrating with Calm Mind. Shadow, counter at the last possible moment with Faint Attack.= Seth silently commanded.

Sola the Espeon closed her eyes and began concentrating her psychic energy. Swellow was closing the gap exponentially between it and Shadow the Umbreon. Just before Swellow's attack was about to connect, Shadow jumped upward and backwards. This forced Swellow to pull upward to hit him. Swellow's Aerial Ace connected with Shadow's head, but the Umbreon used the momentum from the hit to throw himself into a back flip. Shadow's tail immediately started giving off a dark glow as Shadow flipped and hit Swellow in the stomach area with his tail. The swallow pokemon yelped in pain from the surprise attack and flew back towards Ash. Ash then noticed that Seth's Espeon had her eyes closed and was concentrating and decided to take advantage of that situation.

"Corphish, use Bubblebeam on Espeon!" He commanded.

=Shadow, stop the attack with Confuse Ray.= Seth told the Umbreon.

The Umbreon landed right next to Sola the Espeon. After quickly shaking off the hit he sustained from Ash's Swellow, he took a few steps forward and quickly locked eyes with Corphish. Almost immediately after locking eyes, a reddish violet spark flashed from the Umbreon's eyes and hit the Corphish. Immediately, the attack's effects began to show when Corphish began staggering in place, the pincers- open and glowing a blue color- also wavered off the intended target and accidentally fired in Swellow's direction. Swellow barely dodged the misguided attack. While Ash- as well as May and Max in the audience- wondered what happened, Brock raised an eyebrow and looked toward Seth quickly before turning his attention back to the battle. As his pokemon were regaining their composure, Ash stood in silence for several seconds staring at the battlefield. Then, after getting an idea, he shakes his head quickly and looks up to his pokemon.

"Swellow, use Quick Attack and change into Aerial Ace on the Espeon, and Corphish hop on Swellow's back and use Crabhammer on the Umbreon." Ash commanded.

Corphish immediately hopped onto Swellow's back, even though it was still staggering from confusion. Swellow then flew upward and back for a few seconds before giving one large final flap of its wings and darted for the Espeon and Umbreon with amazing speed. After reopening its wings, Swellow slowly dipped its left wing downward, as if giving the Corphish on its back a drop-off ramp.

=Sola, dead-stop both attacks with a Psychic barrier. Shadow, prepare for a follow up.= Seth told his pokemon.

Shadow the Umbreon took a few steps in front of Sola and lowered his front end, as if ready to pounce. Swellow quickly raised his lowered left wing, catapulting the Corphish passenger high into the air. Corphish did a few somersaults before stretching out its body and raised its glowing right pincer high into the air. Both attacks were ready to strike their targets when both pokemon bounced back toward Ash suddenly, as if they hit a brick wall.

=Now, Shadow, follow up with Shadow Ball against the Corphish. Sola, use Psybeam against Swellow.= Seth commanded, a smile creeping over his face.

Both Sola and Shadow fired their attacks simultaneously. The Umbreon's dark violet sphere connected with Corphish as it was recovering, creating a small explosion and creating a dust cloud. The Espeon's rainbow-colored Psybeam narrowly missed its target when Swellow stood up and jumped back into the air. All attention then turned to the dust cloud where Corphish was. A light breeze blows away the dust to reveal Corphish still standing, but it falls over after a couple of seconds, knocked out.

"Corphish is unable to battle." Brock announces.

Ash withdraws his Corphish and praises it for its good work. He then looks at his Pikachu by his side and both nod before the electric mouse enters the battlefield. Pikachu quickly assumes his battle pose on all four paws with sparks flying from its cheeks.

"Shadow, come on back." Seth called out before returning the Umbreon to his pokeball.

=You sure about this, Seth?= Sola asked while glancing back at her trainer.

=Yes.= Seth replied, =This match up almost happened before I got here. I think he should show Ash what he was really getting into.=

=Alright then. A quick finish it is then.= Sola calmly replies, anticipating Seth's actions.

"Alright, Jolt, let's go!" Seth said as he tossed out a different pokeball. The Jolteon immediately extended all of the quills on his body as he quickly stretched. Both Jolt and Pikachu stared at each other for a few seconds. Seth and Ash also locked eyes, but both trainers were slightly smiling.

"Resume Battle!" Brock shouted.

_*That Espeon seems a little tired from that last attack. I'll deal with it first.*_ Ash thought to himself before commanding his pokemon, "Alright, Pikachu, Swellow, use Quick Attack on that Espeon!"

Both Pikachu and Swellow demonstrated their superb speed as they both took off in their attack. Pikachu used a zigzagging motion and was curving towards the Espeon's right side. Swellow, on the other hand, used a wider and gentler curve towards the Espeon's left side.

"Jolt, stop Pikachu with Thunderbolt." Seth told his Jolteon, then telepathically said,

=Sola, I want you to jump over the Swellow at the closest opportunity and use Psybeam on its back.=

In the blink of an eye, Jolt disappeared from near Sola and appeared running just beside and in front of Pikachu. The Jolteon then fired off a Thunderbolt from its body which traveled a few yards in front of Pikachu and impacted the ground, forcing Pikachu to stop in place. With Pikachu's attack stopped, Sola turns her attention toward the attacking Swellow. Swellow suddenly turned sharply and darted towards Sola with its wings folded back. Mere seconds before collision, Sola jumped upward and over Swellow, forcing the attack to miss. Once Swellow was directly below the Espeon, she fired a Psybeam from her forehead gem. With no time to dodge, the Psybeam impacted Swellow's back and pushed it onto the ground. Swellow slid along the ground for a few more seconds before stopping about 2 yards to the right of Sola. Brock immediately saw that Swellow was knocked out.

"Swellow is unable to battle." He announced, "Pikachu is Ash's last pokemon."

"This is not looking good for Ash." Max said.

"Seth still has 3 pokemon, and 2 of them battle by themselves." May added.

Ash stood in thought, looking at his Pikachu.

_*Not good. If I try to attack one, the other will attack back. But I can't just give up, there's gotta be a way around this... I know! I can use a thunderbolt as bait to make an opening!*_

Seth simply watched Ash's expression.

_*What are you plotting, Ash?*_

"All right, Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on that Espeon!" Ash suddenly commanded.

Pikachu quickly jumped back in front of his trainer and fired off the attack from its cheeks.

"Jolt, jump in front of the Thunderbolt." Seth calmly told his Jolteon.

Just like before, Jolt disappeared from where he stopped Pikachu's attack earlier and appeared at the center of the battlefield between Pikachu and Sola. Pikachu's Thunderbolt struck the Jolteon on the head, but he neither showed pain nor any attempt to reflect the attack. Pikachu and Ash stood there shocked as the Jolteon emerged from the attack unscathed.

"What happened?" May quietly asked, "Even if it didn't do as much damage, it should have hurt him a little bit."

"It's Jolteon's Ability, Volt Absorb. Electric-type attacks don't do any damage, but instead heal the pokemon with this Ability." Max answered.

"Don't tell me you forgot about Volt Absorb, Ash." Seth said, slightly taunting him.

"Of course not. It's what I was looking for!" Ash immediately replied- which was a half-lie- before commanding, "Now, Pikachu, use Quick Attack to get speed, then use Iron Tail on the Jolteon!"

_*Interesting.*_ Seth though to himself, _*But this match is now going to end.*_

Pikachu quickly bolted from Ash's side to close the gap between himself and Jolt. Once he reached the center of the battlefield, Pikachu leapt high into the air and its tail began to give a grayish glow.

"Alright, Jolt, dodge the attack. Then start circling Pikachu at the fastest speed you can and use Double Team to trap it." Seth confidently told his Jolteon.

Pikachu did a somersault in the air so he fell tail-first in order to make the attack connect. Pikachu descended on the Jolteon, aiming for the eon's head, when the Jolteon disappeared from Pikachu's view. The Iron Tail impacted solid earth, creating a small dust cloud. Ash noticed the dust cloud suddenly begin to move in circles and look much like a cyclone. The "cyclone" caused the dust cloud to quickly dissolve, revealing Pikachu to be surrounded by about 5 Jolteons all running in quick, but slightly tight, clockwise circles.

"Wh-what just happened!" Ash exclaimed.

"Don't be so surprised, Ash. That just gives me an advantage." Seth calmly said, before commanding, "Now, Jolt, use Thunder to create a cage to prevent Pikachu's escape."

Each of the five Jolteons quickly emitted a large bolt of electricity upward over Pikachu, where they all collided to form the "peak" of the cage. Small sparks flew from the peak in all directions, including inside this "cage", forcing Pikachu to almost dance to avoid being hit by them.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail to break out." Ash shouted, showing a hint of desperation.

Pikachu looked around the "cage" and found a slight opening wider than the other gaps between Thunders. As soon as he tried to jump through it leading with his glowing tail, he was hit back inside from what looked like a moving Thunder.

"Jolt, let's wrap this up by giving a burst of full power to the top." Seth commanded.

All of the thunderbolts forming the cage suddenly became larger and brighter as the Jolteons put full power into the attack. The peak of the "cage" then became a concentrated orb of electricity. Several seconds later, a large Thunder erupted from the peak, striking Pikachu in the head, and creating an explosion. All five Jolteons darted from the resulting dust cloud in five different directions. Each disappeared except for the one that darted back to Seth, showing that he was the real one. Jolt turned back to the now-large dust cloud, lightly panting from the fatigue of the attack as a whole. The dust cloud was slow to dissipate, and after several agonizing moments, Pikachu could finally be seen lying on the ground, knocked out from the powerful attack.

"Pikachu is unable to battle. Seth has won the match." Brock announced.

"Oh, man, Seth is really good. No wonder he is part of the Pokemon League." Max said, slightly sad for Ash's loss.

"Was that attack even ALLOWED?" Ash asked as he ran to check on his best pokemon friend.

"Actually, Ash," Seth said as he walked towards him and Pikachu, "it wasn't just one attack. It was an attack combination."

"Attack… combination?" Both Ash and May said, confused.

"An attack combination is a technique using a few different moves and their effects together. In this case, it was Thunder and Double Team while also using Jolt's superior speed. The right combinations can lead to some brilliant techniques." Seth replied.

_*Hmmmm the right combinations… this can help me in my contests also.*_ May thought to herself.

"Here, Ash, you'll need this." Seth said as he handed Ash a red spray bottle, "This Hyper Potion will get Pikachu back to full strength in no time."

"Wh- but why are you-"

"Because we're still far away from a Pokemon Center." Seth interrupted Ash, "You're going to need a healthy pokemon to protect you."

"Oh… Thanks." Ash simply replied before tending to Pikachu.

"I also have a question for you, Seth." Brock started, "For your Vaporeon, Flareon, and Jolteon, you actually spoke commands, but Espeon and Umbreon seemed to fight on their own. What was going on when Espeon and Umbreon were battling?"

"Oh, you don't remember, Brock?" Seth answered, "Whenever Sola is out of her ball, I can talk to my pokemon using telepathy."

"Telepathy, that's right!" Brock recalled.

"You explained that to us before. You could understand them and you could talk to them without actually saying anything." May added.

"Precisely, May." Seth replied, "The only reason I only used telepathy with Sola and Shadow was to make it fairer for Ash. I use it as a strategy while battling, as it really upsets most trainers' rhythm when my pokemon begin what looks like battling by themselves."

Seth then stops talking and begins looking around, as though he lost something. He then sees the girl sitting at the base of a tree on the side of the pathway he entered from.

"Ah, there you are, Pearl. Don't be shy, come over here. Did you learn anything from the battle Ash and I had?" Seth said to the girl.

The girl stood up, enclosed her pen inside her notebook, and began walking over to where everyone had gathered. When she walked out of the shade and into the sunlight, details became visible to Ash and his companions. Overall, she was the same stature as May- tall and slim. She had shoulder-length hair that was just as black as Ash's hair, but there were also deep purple highlights scattered throughout. She wore a short-sleeve blue and violet floral top with a deep blue skirt with a light violet floral pattern scattered about the skirt. She wore navy blue converse-like sneakers with white laces and white socks. She also had a false gold bangle on her left wrist, and rectangular frameless glasses overtop her rose eyes. She, ironically, wore Seth's black League cap.

"You were right, Seth, watching you battle an experienced trainer cleared up a lot of stuff for me. I also took note that it's best to stay one step ahead of your opponent." She said after reaching the group.

"Who is she?" Brock asked Seth.

"Yeah, I noticed her before the battle started." May added.

"Oh, um, I didn't want to interfere, so I sat over there to observe Seth's battle. M-my name is Pearl. I'm a Trainer-in-training." She said nervously.

"Trainer… in… training?" Ash's group asked collectively.

"She made the term herself." Seth answered, "She is going to become a Pokemon Trainer in several months and she's learning from me."

"But I thought Pokemon League members don't take apprentices unless they really proved themselves." Brock said.

"I'm not going into the extremely complex stuff that the elite trainers know. It's just the basics for now." Seth replied, "But you are correct, Brock."

"So how will you explain this to the rest of the League?" Brock asked.

"Well, they already know I'm teaching her." Seth answered, "However, I'm in kind of a 'vacation' after my time on the island, so I can do whatever I wish with my free time. Besides, she is more of a student than an apprentice. There _is_ a difference."

"So Pearl, where do you live?" May asked the new girl.

"I… actually live in a different region, far away from here. My parents are visiting some old friends of theirs here in Kanto. I started becoming interested in Pokemon when I saw some new trainers getting their first pokemon." Pearl replied, slightly becoming used to Ash's group.

"So if you're here with your family, then how did you meet Seth and start studying under him?" Ash asked.

"We met at the Vermilion docks." Seth answered. "I had just returned from the island and they arrived on a large cruise ship packed with travelers. She took an immediate liking to Sola, and I began talking with her and her parents. That's when everything sorta came together."

Little did any of the humans know that they were being watched from off of the pathway.

"Did you hear that?" A male voice quietly said, "That yellow haired twerp is in the Pokemon League."

"Yeah, his pokemon must be really strong. They'd be of great use to the boss." A female voice answered.

"And since Pikachu is a little weak from da battle, we can bag it along with the other kid's pokeymon." A third higher-pitched voice said, before all of them stepped away.

"Despite the loss, Ash, you're still a very competent trainer. I'm sure Pearl can even learn a thing or two from you from that battle." Seth said with a hint of reluctance.

"So this battle was just to teach Pearl about battling?" May asked.

"Kind of." Seth replied, which angered Ash a little, "But I was telling the truth when I said that my Eevee team needed a good challenge to keep our motivation and spirits up. Since I couldn't get ahold of Gary, and my friends Katie and Brendan are in different regions, Ash was the best choice for an experienced Trainer."

"So how were you able to find us, then?" Max asked, which was supported by a nod from Brock and Ash.

"It was coincidence, really." Seth answered as Pearl knelt down and began petting Sola, "I was getting ready to start asking the Gym Leaders for matches until Sola found you."

As the humans were talking, two large robotic arms flew out of the bushes off of the path and grabbed Pikachu and Jolt. Both pokemon yelled for their Trainers as they were carried off.

"What the…?" Seth said.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled.

Laughter could be heard as the ground began to shake. Pearl stood up and half-hid behind Seth, and Sola stood in front of them. A large robot resembling a Meowth rolled out of the woods onto the pathway and slowly turned toward the six humans. A hatch opened behind the Meowth's large coin and three individuals rose out of the opening. One was a woman with long red hair that arched backwards, and the other was a male with ear-length blue hair. Both wore white uniforms with a red R on their shirts. The last was a Meowth.

"Prepare for trouble, two times the power is ours." The woman said.

"Make that double, we'll be twice as rich, too." The man followed.

"Team Rocket, really?" Seth interrupted as he stepped toward the robot.

"How dare you interrupt us, twerp!" The woman spat.

"Give us back our pokemon right now!" Ash yelled to the two Rockets.

"Hah, who's going to make us?" The male Rocket replied.

"I will." Seth said bluntly, taking another step to the robot, with Sola by his side.

"We'll see about that. Seviper, show this twerp who he's messing with!" The female Rocket said as she tossed her pokeball.

"Cacnea, you show them, too." The male Rocket followed.

Seviper emerged at ground level, immediately baring its fangs. Cacnea, on the other hand, flew back toward the male Rocket and began hugging his head.

"OW! I want you to show THEM, not ME!" He yelled as the Cacnea's spiky arms gripped his head.

Seth sent out Shadow to help Sola engage the two Rockets in a Double Battle.

"Um, Seth. Can I help?" Pearl suddenly spoke as she approached the yellow-haired trainer, "I want to show you what I've learned."

"Sure. Two heads are better than one. You can take control of Sola for the battle." Seth replied. He turned back to Ash and said, "Sorry, Ash, but since your only healthy pokemon is in their robot's grip, I'll take care of this."

"Right." Ash simply replied before looking back up to his Pikachu.

=You ok with this, Sola?= Seth asked his Espeon.

=She wants to show us what she knows. I think she'll do fine.= Sola replied, giving a confident smile to Seth.

"Cacnea, use Pin Missile on the Umbreon!" The male Rocket commanded.

"Dodge, Shadow." Seth said to his Umbreon.

The Rocket's Cacnea jumped from the top of the large robot and fired many glowing needles from the spikes on its hands. All of them flew down to the ground, but each hit the dirt around the swift moving Umbreon.

"Seviper, attack the Espeon with Poison Tail." The female rocket commanded.

The Seviper quickly slithered in Sola's direction with its normally red tail glowing a violet color.

"Shadow, intercept Seviper with Faint Attack." Seth commanded.

"Ok, Sola, attack with Shadow using Psychic." Pearl said to the Espeon.

Shadow quickly ran to and hit the Seviper in the side with his head. Seviper flew off to its right a little bit before suddenly being picked up into the air. Sola, with her eyes glowing blue, then threw Seviper back toward the robot. Once it landed and slid along the ground for a second, it was clear to everyone that Seviper was knocked out.

"Oh no, Seviper!" The female Rocket shouted before returning it to its pokeball.

"Shadow, let's take advantage of this by using Shadow Ball on that Cacnea." Seth said to the Umbreon.

In no time, Shadow formed the dark purple Shadow Ball and fired it. The Shadow Ball hit Cacnea in the center and knocked it out.

"Cacnea!" The male Rocket shouted before returning it to its pokeball.

"Dis ain't good." The Meowth said before reentering the robot, "Time to make our getaway."

The man and woman followed the Meowth back into the robot. The ground began to shake again as the Meowth robot started slowly turning around.

"Sola, Shadow, it's time to show these Rockets your special technique." Seth said, which was followed by a nod from the two. "Super Beam Technique, GO!"

_*Super Beam? I have never heard of that attack before…*_ Brock thought.

Sola fired a Psybeam from her forehead gem toward the robot's still-exposed right arm. Shadow then fired his own Hyper Beam from his mouth, which mixed with the Psybeam and instantly demolished the arm, freeing Pikachu.

"Yaaaaaaaa, Can't this thing go any faster!" The female Rocket yelled at the Meowth.

"I'm doin da best I can, Jessie, but dese large treads make turning a problem." The Meowth replied.

"Well, you'd better do something about it, we lost Pikachu, and if we don't move soon, we'll lose the Jolteon too!" The male Rocket shouted.

"Like I didn't know that, James!" The Meowth retorted.

Ash ran out and caught Pikachu in his arms.

"Pikachu, you alright?" Ash asked, which was answered by a nod from Pikachu.

"Clear out, Ash, this isn't over just yet." Seth shouted to Ash before commanding, "Sola, Shadow, head around and destroy the robot's other arm using the Super Beam Technique." This was unexpectedly followed by another command.

"Pikachu, help out the Espeon and Umbreon with Thunderbolt." Ash said.

Pikachu followed Sola and Shadow around to the left side of the robot. Sola, standing in the middle of the three pokemon, fired another Psybeam from her forehead gem to the left arm. Shadow, like before, added his Hyper Beam to the Psybeam, and Pikachu followed suit with his Thunderbolt. The boosted power from the Thunderbolt caused the mixed beam to pierce straight through the robot and destroy it.

"Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!" Jessie, James, and Meowth all shouted as they flew off into the distance.

Sola used Psychic to catch Jolt and gently set him on the ground. Once Seth saw that all of the pokemon were accounted for, he turned back to the rest of the humans.

"Thanks for the assistance at the end, Ash." Seth said to the trainer.

"Hey, you healed Pikachu and saved him. I had to pay you back somehow." Ash replied.

"And Pearl, you're learning quite quickly. I'm surprised." Seth said to his companion.

"Well… I take notes from a good teacher." She replied, "After all, you said it has to be taught before it can be learned."

"Right… That line." Seth said, rubbing the back of his head, "I picked that up from the Trainer School in Viridian while I was just starting out. But it is true."

"Did you attend a class there?" Brock asked.

"Nah, I just overheard one of the teachers there say it." Seth replied before turning to Ash, "Well, Ash, I suggest you train some more before your next Frontier Battle. Pearl and I came from Celadon City, which is not far down that path. You should rest up there."

"I'll get stronger, Seth. You'll see." Ash confidently replied.

"Well, I hope to meet everyone else sometime down the road. But for now, we have to be going." Seth said as he returned Jolt to his pokeball.

"Wait, what's your next step, Seth?" Brock asked.

"Most likely Gym Leader rematches, to let her see the difference between trainer battles and battles with Gym Leaders. I might take May's suggestion and check out a few Frontier locations as well." Seth answered.

"Then how about battling Erika at the Celadon gym?" Ash suggested.

"She politely refused me shortly before you were spotted." Seth replied, "She's not quite the battling-type. You should know that as well. I'm going to try Saffron or Vermilion."

"Alright, well best of luck to you." Brock said.

"Good luck to you, Pearl, and it was nice to meet you." May said to the trainer-to-be.

"Yeah, hope to see you two again someday." Max added.

"Thanks, same here." Pearl replied.

Seth and Pearl began walking down the pathway that Ash and his friends came from when Seth suddenly stopped.

"Pearl, Sola, Shadow, wait a second. I just remembered something I had to tell Max." He said to them.

"Ok…" Pearl replied.

Seth jogged back down the path toward Celadon until he met Ash's party again.

"Max!" Seth called out, causing all four humans to turn back to him. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

"Me? Uh, sure." Max replied uncertainly before walking up to him.

"I noticed you aren't a trainer yet." Seth said softly so the others wouldn't hear him, "So, I have a feeling I'll be seeing you and your sister sometime in the future. Can't tell you why, but keep an eye out. I'll see you around."

"Alright, bye." Max said as Seth turned back to go rejoin Pearl and his pokemon.

"What was that about, Max?" His sister, May, asked.

"Eh, it was nothin important. Seth just said that we might see him sometime in the future." Max answered.

"No time to waste, let's GO! To the next Frontier Area!" Ash confidently shouted as May turned to where Seth left.

"Um, Ash, let's focus on getting to Celadon City and healing up the rest of your pokemon first." Brock said.

"Yeah, you did just get beaten by Seth in a battle. And the battle was just to teach Pearl." Max added, which angered Ash a bit and they began arguing.

May on the other hand, ignored the argument breaking out between Max and Ash and simply clasped her hands together, and closed her eyes.

_*I really hope we meet again, Seth.*_ She thought to herself.

Seth rejoined Pearl, Sola, and Shadow and continued eastward toward Saffron City.

"Here, Pearl." Seth said as he handed her a note card. "This is a type chart. It shows each pokemon type and its respective weaknesses. Knowing strengths and weaknesses can be a great help in battles."

"Thanks… Hey, Seth, I have a question." Pearl replied.

"What is it?"

"What is Team Rocket? And what do they do?" She asked her 'teacher'.

"Team Rocket is one of a handful of criminal organizations that want to control the world. They use anything they can get, even pokemon, as tools to achieve that goal. Even the Pokemon League is getting tied up with these groups now."

_*Sounds like they mean business.*_ Pearl thought.

"Team Rocket is just in the Kanto/Johto regions." Seth continued, "I heard from my friend, Brendan, that there are two other groups in Hoenn. You may meet groups like this during your journey as well."

"Then I'll just have to help put them in their place! I can't wait to start my own journey!" Pearl excitedly said, causing Seth, Sola, and Shadow to laugh.

Both groups have again gone their separate ways. Ash and May continue to work hard at the Frontier Challenge and the Contest Challenge, respectively, while Seth set his goal at finishing teaching Pearl. But there is promise of at least one more meeting. Only time and chance will tell how many more times these two skilled trainers will meet.

* * *

Author's Notes: I've lost all inspiration to write over these past months. The only reason/excuse I can come up with is Depression.

This chapter was originally called "The First Encounter with the Fourth Kind" because the Sinnoh region was directly mentioned in the story. (Sinnoh = Fourth Generation)

There is actually a scene missing in this story in comparison to my handwritten story. That is when May actually talks to Seth slightly after the groups go their separate ways (And after Seth gives Max the promise of meeting again). May subtly shows that she is attracted to Seth. Pearl picks up on it, and her thoughts show an angry rivalry to May concerning Seth. (Pearl: *_Oh, please… you think __he__ likes __you__?*_)

Also, there's an Easter Egg attack in this story. If you think you picked it up, post the attack and what attack and game/series it referenced. (I'll give you a PM saying if you got it right or not.)

I've been playing a large variety of games as of late, and I've decided to make a change of story for now. I have a poll on FanFiction and the journal entry on DeviantArt for you readers to help me to choose what I should start on/ resume. I ask of you to please vote on which one you would like to see first. Hopefully, this will renew my inspiration and motivation.


	4. Halloween Special

Author's Notes: Happy Halloween to all. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a full costume set up this year, but that won't stop me from having a good time. This was created on the fly and has no continuity with the PSS series.

As usual:

"Talking"

_*Thinking*_

=Telepathy=

Enjoy!

~ZX

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Pokemon or any individual aspect therein. Pokemon is copyrighted to Nintendo and Game Freak.

Once again, another year has gone by, and with the colors of the trees changing, houses began taking a spookier feel for that special event at the end of October. Normally, Seth would celebrate by himself by creating a getup from books, animes, or movies he's read/seen and just have a good time with the locals in the city he was in at the time. Every city usually hosted a costume party for trainers and pokemon alike and followed it up with a party/banquet for the contestants and judges. This year, the location was Goldenrod City- Johto's largest city- and he wasn't participating alone this year. He stood at the Pokemon Center looking down at his party of five, four of whom were looking back with beady puppy dog eyes.

=Pleeeeeeeeaaase?= Sola the Espeon begged her trainer.

Seth gave a large sigh, "Does _everyone_ have to participate?" he asked the Espeon at the front of the group of five Eeveelutions.

=Well, DUH!= Sola replied.

=We all want to have fun just as much as you.= Misty the Vaporeon added, which was followed by a nod from Jolt the Jolteon and Blaze the Flareon.

Shadow the Umbreon stood at the back, relaxing his gaze (he's the only one not giving Seth the puppy dog look) from Seth and turning his attention to the other trainers and their pokemon walking around the city streets. =You'd better make a decision soon, people are everywhere snatching up the good stuff.=

Seth sighed again and shook his head, knowing he couldn't change their minds. "Fine. All of you can participate, but you'll all have to stay with me after the festival starts. No wandering off by yourselves, got it?"

Sola, Misty, Jolt, and Blaze started leaping around in celebration. Shadow simply looked at Seth and gave him a happy nod. Sola eventually stopped jumping around and gave Seth a cute smile. Seth then started looking around for stores with a large amount of Halloween merchandise, listening to his team following behind talking in pokespeech about what costumes each are going to do. Sola was the first to make up her mind, followed by both Jolt and Blaze. Misty, however, took a really long time to think of an idea. Sola finally gave her an idea that fit her style. Shadow, however, didn't chime in, so Seth didn't know if he had an idea or was even interested in participating.

Seth finally found a store that had various costume accessories and even full costumes. Seth wasn't exactly sure what his costume was going to be right away until he saw a costume set of knight's plate armor, save that the "armor" was plastic. There were rounded shoulder plates, full-arm gauntlets, jointed leg armor, a breastplate with a white-and-blue tunic overtop, and a white shield. It very closely reminded him of a knight character in a game he had played, and since he had short spiky yellow-blonde hair like the character, he found it perfect. Alongside the costume for himself, he also bought a plastic silver sword with a sheath. Sola kept her look simple and got herself a large witch's hat and cloak, with a wand in a holster. Blaze went the more evil route and got a demon's mask with horns and a heat-resistant tattered cloak. Misty got a flowing ice-blue gown, a silver necklace chain, and a crown that looked like it was made of icicles. Jolt's costume however, was the most complex of all of the Eeveelutions. He got temporary blue fur dye, a gold-colored metal ring collar, and a belt with a curved plastic knife in its sheath. The other four left the building while Seth was getting everything scanned when Shadow quietly came up to Seth with a plain black cape and fake fangs.

After getting all of the costumes sorted out and individually bagged, Seth and his team returned to the pokemon center. After getting to their room, Shadow ducked away into the closet with his small bag, while the other four almost jumped onto Seth for their costumes. Seth passed out the costumes to each of them before getting to work helping them. He started with Blaze, fitting the tattered cloak onto him before placing the mask on the top of his head. Blaze then quickly shook his head downward, causing the mask to slide in front of his face, before giving off a loud growl. Seth gave a short laugh before adjusting the mask on his "demon". Sola, instead of working on her costume, decided to help Misty with hers while Seth tended to Blaze. Misty slipped the necklace chain around her neck while Sola used her psychic abilities to dress her in the gown. Sola then placed the crown on her head so that it hid the fin on the top of her head. Misty looked down at the necklace but it felt like something was missing. Once Seth finished with Blaze the Demon, he went over to Misty, whom was sighing.

"That necklace is a little too simple… Hmmmmm, wait. How about this?" Seth asked as he took the Mystic Water out of his bag.

=Oh, that's perfect!= Misty squealed.

Seth removed the silver chain and placed the Mystic Water onto it before putting it back around her neck. Misty clearly loved it as she stared at it with a twinkle in her eye.

"You need help next, Jolt?" Seth asked, which was followed by a nod. He then turned to Sola.

=Don't worry about me. I can dress myself.= Sola said, smiling.

"Ok, if you say so." Seth replied before turning back to Jolt, whom nudged the can of temporary dye. "Hmm, I guess we have to head into the bathroom here to dye your fur." He said as he picked the can up.

Seth spent the next few minutes carefully washing Jolt's spiky fur before finally applying the dye (which is washable). All of Jolt's yellow fur was now a vivid blue color, while his white collar remained white. Both exited the bathroom to find Sola already dressed. She wore a black cloak with what appeared to be a fictional school's coat of arms on the back. Her witch's cap covered the whole top of her head, but she let her ears hang out to the sides, almost like hair. The wand holster was on a belt tied around the base of her neck, with the wand sitting on the right side. Seth quickly affixed the metal ring collar and the belt to Jolt before it hit him: Jolt's choice of outfit came from the same game that his own was inspired from. As he sat there admiring Jolt's cameo costume, he was suddenly pounced in the back by Shadow, who immediately bit his neck.

"Shadow, what are you doing!" Seth shouted. Shadow growled lightly as Seth started slowly going down on his knees. "Why… do I feel… so weak…" he said as he finally collapsed onto the floor of the room.

"SHADOW, NO!" Sola shouted, "What have you done!"

"You're next, my beauty. Hehe, I'm sure you'll taste even better." Shadow cackled as he hopped off Seth and slowly approached his terrified mate. The other three were simply paralyzed with shock and fear.

As Shadow approached Sola, Sola backed away, but the room was small, and she was soon backed into a corner. Knowing her psychic attacks have no effect at all, she stood there and closed her eyes and awaited the inevitable. Blaze was about to finally take off in rage at his father when Shadow licked Sola's cheek.

"But I _did _promise I wouldn't scare you again." He said aloud, which caused Sola to open her eyes wide and turn toward a smiling Shadow. "Got ya." He added.

"W-wait, so Seth isn't…" Sola was about to ask until he saw him get back up, which got a collective sigh of relief from Jolt, Misty, and Blaze.

"Had a feeling you were going to pull that stunt, Shadow." Seth said as he dusted off his black jeans, "It would've been nice for a little more warning, though."

=Wait, you were in on this?= Sola asked.

"Kind of. It's what a vampire does, after all." Seth answered, pointing toward Shadow's fake fangs.

"=Oh, YOU!=" Sola yelled as she tackled and pinned Shadow to the ground.

"Easy, Sola, easy." Seth said. "This is kind of what Halloween is about. There are plenty of haunted houses and events that are only for providing scares. It's all in good fun, though."

=Will there be any kinds of scary things where we're going later tonight?= Sola asked, not taking her gaze from Shadow's eyes.

"No, there won't be, don't worry." Seth said, "Shadow was just trying to have some fun with his costume."

"=Hehe, I was mighty convincing wasn't I?=" Shadow said. "=Maybe I went a little overboard with the biting, though. But still, it's Halloween- we're _supposed_ to be having fun.="

Sola stared at him for a few more seconds before giving a sigh.

"=I guess I'll let you off this time.=" She said as she licked his cheek and finally released him. "=But please keep your promise.="

"Ok, now that _that_ is all settled," Seth interrupted, "I'll get into my costume real quick and we'll be off. We're heading to the Goldenrod Radio Tower first to get my radio card reactivated, and then we'll go straight to the party at Whitney's gym. I hear she's not going to be the only gym leader there this year."

=Ok, we'll wait for you downstairs by the doors.= Sola stated.

=We'll stay together, I'll make sure of it.= Shadow added.

"Alright. See you guys in a few." Seth said as he stepped into the bathroom with his costume bag.

Sola opened the door and led the Eeveelutions out of the room before closing it behind her. They all immediately went for the stairs.

"This is going to be so much fun! I can't believe Seth has only done this by himself every year." Misty said excitedly as she walked behind Sola.

"We've definitely been missing out on some good stuff if this kind of thing happens every year." Jolt added as he followed behind the Vaporeon princess.

"Ohhhh, man I really wanna scare someone now. Honestly, how often can we do this?" Blaze said as he walked beside his Jolteon brother.

"The question is, is it really _fun_ to be scared?" Shadow asked as he trailed the group.

"I guess some people do." Sola replied, "But I am _definitely_ not one of them."

"Me neither." Misty added, "Dad really scared me back there."

"I… I don't really know what to answer yet." Jolt said as the group started descending the stairs to the main floor.

"I was about to beat you up, dad." Blaze said sternly.

"I noticed. Lucky Seth broke the prank when he did." Shadow answered before chuckling lightly.

Blaze then lightened up a bit, "Then again, looking back at it now, I found it really fun. Especially if you know they're only trying to scare you."

Before long, they reached the Pokemon Center's main lobby, where a few trainers and their pokemon were getting ready to leave for the festivities. They all went to a table nearby the sliding glass doors and all sat down; talking about what they think is going to happen at the party. Blaze, instead of talking, made a few attempts to scare some of the other trainers and pokemon there by hiding behind the chairs and popping out at them and growling. He managed to make two different trainers and their sidekick pokemon jump back in surprise at his sudden appearance. Another trainer gave a big gasp, then laughed it off and complimented the Flareon on his "scare tactics". Seth had finally entered the main lobby when he saw Blaze walk out in front of a female trainer, dressed as a wicked witch holding a broomstick, and started laughing while small flames began to exit the holes in his tattered cloak and encircle him, giving Blaze a demonic red aura. Seth was about to run up to him and tell him to stop when the trainer spoke up.

"Wow, that's really good. It makes you look super evil." She said before giggling lightly, "But I think it'll be much scarier in the dark where they don't see you coming."

Blaze shook the mask up to the top of his head and gave the girl a toothy smile. She responded by lightly patting the top of his head before exiting with her pokemon, Misdreavus. Seth then approached his team in his knight armor, wearing the shield on his back and the sword sheathed at his side. His hair wasn't as spiky as it normally was, mostly pointing forward and upward.

"You just couldn't resist, could ya?" He asked the Flareon, who shook his head before swinging the mask back down in front of his face.

=I almost had to pull him back in on one occasion.= Sola said to her trainer before looking away slightly. =You look really good as a knight.=

"Yeah, but I didn't know this would limit your movements so much." Seth replied as he tried to rotate his arms. "Maybe I should take some pictures of us before we go."

All five agreed immediately, knowing the costumes would only be for today. Seth asked Nurse Joy at the center if she had a camera to take photographs with. She said she did not, but a man nearby named Cameron did. They started individually with Seth holding the shield by his side and raising the sword into the air in a heroic manner. Shadow was next, draping the cape underneath his head while giving a fanged smile to the camera. Misty actually tried pirouetting slowly for the camera, and Cameron had to take a few before he found one she was happy with. Blaze conjured up his burning crimson aura again for his photo. Lastly, Sola held her wand with her psychic powers off to the right side of her head, winking her left eye and sticking her tongue out. Everyone then went in for a final group shot with each of the Eeveelutions lined up in the front row with Seth standing behind them. After giving Cameron some payment for the pictures and his PC address to send the photos, Seth and his team left the pokemon center to start their Halloween fun. With the remaining orange/crimson glow of the evening, they trekked up to the Goldenrod Radio Tower to get Seth radio card reactivated. The radio was playing some creepy and some funny Halloween selections over the airwaves instead of their normal programs, and many of the employees there were dressed as other professions, like doctors, waitresses, a construction worker, and one even was dressed as a nurse. They then exited the tower listening to the music selections that were airing on the radio while making the short trip to the Goldenrod Gym.

The gym looked completely different to Seth, Sola, and Shadow compared to their first trip here. All of the pink and white in the gym was replaced with orange, black, and crimson. Zubat and Murkrow plushies hanged from the ceiling, while some of the corners had plushies of Haunter and Duskull. Whitney stood on her gym leader platform at the far back of the gym wearing a slim Clefable cosplay outfit, with her hair being used for Clefable's ears. Many local trainers were also dotting the gym, as well as a couple of members of famed Pokemaniac Bill's family.

"Ok, you remember what I said before. Don't exit the gym." Seth told his team. "Go ahead and enjoy."

=I thought you told us not to leave your side?= Sola asked.

=I'm changing the terms a bit. Just have fun, but keep in groups so I can spot you easier, ok?= Seth answered.

=Ok.= Sola said

=Thank you, Seth!= Misty and Jolt said before walking off together with Blaze toward the center of the gym.

Sola and Shadow walked over to the lounge area off to the right of the gym entrance, which had a couple of sofas and plenty of bean bags for sitting and resting in. Seth decided to go and talk with Whitney.

"Hey, Whitney. It's been a while hasn't it?" Seth greeted her.

"Oh! It's Seth!" Whitney said as she ran up to him and gave him a hug, as she does to all of her friends. "It's only been so long because you never call. How have you been?"

"Pretty good, actually." Seth replied as he looked around. "You did a very good job decorating the place. Brings out the Halloween vibe nicely."

"It wasn't just me. I had help from my pokemon, a few other trainers, and Jasmine. I haven't seen her come back, though."

"Was she the other leader I heard was going to make an appearance here?"

"Yup! She's bringing Amphy also, since the docks are closed for the night. It's gonna be a relief knowing I'm not the only leader here."

"Will she be in costume also? I see you certainly got yourself a cute getup." Seth said, turning away slightly in embarassment at the compliment he just said.

"Oh, how sweet of you, you dashing knight, you. But you can't believe how many pervy looks I've gotten because of this." She replied, "Yeah, she will. Can't tell you what, though." She tauntingly added as she spun to Seth's side and hugged his left arm as they looked out at the guests filling the gym. They were quickly interrupted by what looked like a scuffle about to happen near the lounge area.

"Uh-oh. Looks like something's gonna happen over there. Gotta keep the peace." Whitney said as she released Seth and started filtering through the crowd toward the disturbance, with Seth following.

When they reached the location of the fight, Seth found Shadow at one end, with Sola behind him, and a Mightyena at the other. Pokemon and their trainers stood around them in a ring- a few even encouraging them to fight. Seth quickly approached his two pokemon as Whitney bravely stood between the two parties.

"Sola, Shadow. What happened?" Seth asked his vampire-witch pair.

=The Mightyena kept making passes at Sola, trying to hit on her.= Shadow replied, not taking his cold stare from the opponent. =It was when he tried getting close to her when I pushed him back.=

=He kept creeping me out!= Sola added, =When Shadow thankfully butted in, the Mightyena took it personally, wanting to fight over me.=

"Mightyena, what are you doing?" a voice suddenly rang out above the others.

Seth looked back to see an older trainer donned in a Death outfit, complete with scythe, approaching the Mightyena through the ring of people and pokemon.

=I'll talk to the trainer about it.= Seth told the pair as he started walking to the Mightyena and the new trainer. "Hey, are you the trainer of this Mightyena?"

"Yeah, why, what's going on? I told them to go out and have fun, then two minutes later this happens." The trainer replied.

"Well, from what I gathered. The Mightyena tried to hit on my Espeon, Sola. My Umbreon, Shadow, just stepped in to protect her." Seth answered.

"Ugh, I had a feeling this was going to happen. I'm sorry, but my Mightyena does this a lot to females. I'll talk to him about it."

"Thanks. The last thing I want to happen now is a battle."

"Same here." The trainer replied before both went back to their respective pokemon.

"Everything's ok, I hope?" Whitney asked as she approached Seth.

"Yeah, the Mightyena's trainer says he does this a lot, but he'll talk to his pokemon about it. Lucky we got here in time."

=What a relief.= Sola said, sighing.

=Yeah. I really didn't want to fight, but if he started swinging…= Shadow trailed off as he turned to go with Sola back to the lounge area.

"So," Seth said to Whitney as they returned to the leader's platform "when is the costume contest starting?"

"When Jasmine gets here." She replied, "Which I hope is soon."

A half-minute later, Jasmine finally entered the gym, dressed as a shiny Ampharos- the only differences were the head (eyes and the top half of the mouth) of the costume was a hood and the arms of the costume only reached to her elbows, while Amphy the Ampharos wore one of Jasmine's glimmering gray dresses and a light brown wig overtop its head. Both seemed nervous as they entered, since all eyes immediately fell upon the pair. They made their way through the crowd of cheering trainers and professing fanboys and joined Whitney and Seth up on the leader's platform. Whitney proceeded to immediately hug Jasmine after she reached the platform, and Seth followed suit but his was quick.

"Now that we're all here…" Whitney said before standing on her podium. She shouted "Attention! All trainers must gather up their pokemon and stay in one whole group. We are getting ready to start the costume contests. Pokemon will be first, followed by the trainers."

"Guess that's my cue." Seth said as he began stepping down from the platform. "Nice to see you again, Jasmine."

"Likewise, Seth." She replied, "I wish I could have gotten here earlier, but my Skarmory wasn't feeling too good for a while."

"I'll talk to you after the contest then?"

"Of course."

Seth went back to the lounge area, meeting Blaze, Misty, and Jolt part way, to meet back up with Sola and Shadow. The room almost looked like a frenzy with each trainer calling their pokemon, pokemon trying to locate their trainers, and everyone just wandering around randomly. After several minutes, the frenzy finally tapered off with each trainer finding their pokemon and settling in groups around the gym. Whitney then spoke up again.

"Ok, since it looks like everyone's ready" She started, "I'd like each trainer that's interested in the costume contest to register themselves at the table on my right side. Pokemon that are interested in participating in the pokemon costume contest have to sign up with their trainers at the table on my left side. We'll start once the lines empty again."

Both lines started piling up, but the human-only line was getting more attention. Seth turned back to his team.

"So, are you sure all of you want to participate?" He asked them.

=I'm in!= Sola immediately replied, =This'll be so much fun!=

=Me too!= Misty added, with Blaze and Jolt echoing what she said. Shadow, however, stayed silent.

"Not you, Shadow?" Seth asked.

=Guess I'm the only one.=

=Why not?= Sola asked, slightly sad.

=My costume's too basic. I know I won't get that far. Besides, I've had my fun already.=

=Ok, if you say so.=

"Ok, so let's go before the line gets any longer. I'll sign the four of you up first before getting myself signed up." Seth said as he began to make his way to the pokemon contest line.

Signups were slow, as each trainer had to sign a waiver letting their participating pokemon do this performance by themselves without the trainer's input. Once Seth signed the four of them up, a gym trainer took them backstage to put on final touches, if any, and show them the order that they'll be going out to the stage. Shadow remained by the lounge area waiting for the whole contest to start. Seth then signed himself up in the human costume contest and was likewise led into a back room by a gym trainer. He quickly checked his outfit in the mirror before sitting in one of the chairs in the room. He looked around the room from his seat at the other contestants. Quite a few trainers signed up, and they ran the whole gambit from cute to awesome to creepy and even one strange costume. Most went in a stereotypical costume for a character, but a few- like the Death trainer he met earlier- took it a step further with accessories and face/body paint. He then peeked out to the gym to see plenty of trainers and pokemon still outside as an audience for the contest.

_*How will this be judged? Will it just be Whitney and Jasmine, or will the audience take part also?*_ Seth thought to himself.

Whitney then took to her platform again, this time with a microphone in her hands.

"Ok, we are ready to start the costume contests. The pokemon will lead us off. Remember, they will not be receiving commands from their trainers, so they're free to move and act as they please. Now to introduce the judges for this contest. First, Olivine's beloved gym leader, Jasmine!"

Jasmine, standing to Whitney's left and easily visible to Seth, took a couple of steps forward and waved toward the audience, whom reacted with cheers and whistles.

"The next judge is Goldenrod's very own Nurse Joy!"

More cheers and whistles sounded out as Joy stepped forward. She had stood on Whitney's right side, so Seth didn't see her until she stepped forward.

"And your final judge for tonight is none other than Goldenrod's very own gym leader, moi!" Whitney said as she stepped forward to massive cheers, whistles, and applause. "We may be the judges, but we'll also be seeing how the crowd reacts to each costume, so don't hesitate to cheer for your favorites! With that said, let's get the party STARTED!"

With that, the crowd went into an uproar. Seth saw Jasmine and Whitney look at each other and giggle before making their way down toward the audience. Seth then went back to his seat in the back room while he listened to the roar of the crowd.

"She really knows how to excite the crowd, doesn't she?" A voice said behind him.

Seth looked back to see the Mightyena's owner in his Death costume standing behind him.

"Yeah, she does. She's always very upbeat and enjoys having fun times like this." Seth replied. "That's kinda what made me come to this city this year."

"Same here, except that I live here." The trainer, named Kyle, replied. "Say, have you known them long?"

"Known who long?"

"Whitney and Jasmine. I saw you up on the leader's platform with them. Whitney usually never lets anyone up there except important people."

"Well, that's a long story, to tell you the truth. To make it short, I've actually challenged the leaders here in Johto a couple of times each, and visited a few of them several more times. Whitney and Jasmine are two of them."

The roar of the crowd finally settled down to a low murmur.

"So you think I can get to know a few gym leaders if I can catch them outside of the gym and talk with them?" Kyle asked

"Yeah. They're not always in their gyms, they each have other activities they do during the day." Seth replied "Whitney, for example, I met in the Goldenrod Department Store a few times. You can even rechallenge them if you want to."

"Cool. I'll keep that in mind."

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Whitney suddenly called out. "It's now time for the Pokemon Costume Contest! Each pokemon will be called and walk out one-by-one to display their costumes, and judges will silently rate them. Let's BEGIN!"

Once Seth heard the first pokemon called, he went back to the doorway to watch as the pokemon went to the leader's platform and show off their costumes. Some even added moves and attacks to add appeal. Misty was the third to be called, and she stood on her hind legs and twirled while firing a weakened Blizzard from her mouth. The Blizzard made it look like it was snowing around her, netting some applause and some "aww"s from the crowd. Blaze was the next of Seth's pokemon to be called, and once again, Blaze gave himself a crimson aura and vented fire from his body to give himself an evil look, which got some "ooh"s and applause. Jolt came out immediately after Blaze, and it was fairly evident that the crowd was stunned at his costume choice. Jolt added to the costume by removing the dagger from the sheath and holding it in his mouth as he jumped straight upward and did multiple quick somersaults with the dagger in his mouth, which got roars of applause from the crowd. Sola was called in near the end, but Seth knew that wouldn't deter her from putting on a show. She used Psychic to take out her wand and hold it near her head and wave it while firing a Psybeam from her forehead gem. She waved the wand again and made it look like she was manipulating the Psybeam with magic, making it fly around her and up into the sky, where it wore off. Her performance also got a lot of applause from the crowds. Several pokemon came after Sola before no more announcements were made. Seth saw Jasmine and Nurse Joy turn back and started talking privately while Whitney spoke up on her mic.

"All of the pokemon had a strong showing. Bring them all back out to the floor!" She said, which started a roar of cheers as the costumed pokemon again exited the back room and went down to the crowds.

Seth saw Sola, Blaze, Misty, and Jolt travelling in a group as they headed out onto the floor, no doubt to meet up with Shadow. Whitney had turned back to converse with the other two judges while the crowds cheered on the pokemon contestants heading back down to their trainers and groups. Once the crowd calmed back down to a murmur, the judges turned back to their normal positions.

"Ok, we've tallied our points for all of the pokemon. Now, it's time for the trainers and their costumes." Whitney said.

"Guess it's our turn now." Seth said as he turned to Kyle.

"Yup. No hard feelings?"

"Nah, just having fun. That's all that counts for me."

Each trainer, like the pokemon beforehand, was called out one-by-one onto the platform to showcase their costumes. Kyle was near the beginning, followed by the witch trainer, named Ashley, that Seth witnessed Blaze trying to scare at the pokemon center. Seth called near the end of the order. He showcased his costume by drawing his sword, making two diagonal cuts toward the audience, before standing profile (facing left) and pointing it out in front of him. His costume was met with some applause and the actions added to the applause, but it wasn't what he had hoped for. He reentered the back room and shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess they didn't bite as well, did they?" Kyle asked Seth as he sat down

"Nah, I wonder how many of them actually saw who I was trying to imitate?" Seth replied

"I'd recognize a Flynn immediately." Another voice said. Both Seth and Kyle turned to find Ashley the witch approaching them. "I saw you in the pokemon center before coming here."

"Yeah, that was my Flareon trying to spook you before. Never got the chance to apologize for that." Seth said rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's alright." She replied. "The attempt was pretty nice, but not enough suddenness to get the scare. Looked like he was just having fun."

"Yeah, he really got into the costume as soon as he saw it." Seth replied, which caused all three trainers to start laughing.

"Attention all trainers, you may all come back out while we tally the points." Whitney said over her mic.

"Nice meeting you two, Kyle and Ashley." Seth said as the trio made their way to the door.

"Same here." They both echoed before going their separate ways to their friends and pokemon.

Seth walked a little slowly, impeded by the crowd, but eventually made his way to the lounge area. However, his pokemon weren't there like he expected them to be.

=Sola, where are all of you?= He asked

=Oh, we're nearer to the judges table, we're heading back to the area with the couches and stuff now.=

=Ok, I'll wait for you here.=

After reuniting with his pokemon, he quietly conversed with them about the experience, even going so far as to guess who's going to win the costume contests. All of them seemed to be enjoying themselves, even Shadow. A few minutes passed before the three lady judges stepped back up onto the platform.

"We have the results!" Whitney shouted over the crowd, which caused them to immediately quiet down. She held up a folded card before bringing it back down and looking at the inside. "The winner of the Pokemon Costume Contest…"

A long, tense silence covered the whole room, and everyone seemed to be leaning toward the stage. Seth sat at the edge of his seat in anticipation, while Sola and Shadow nuzzled closely to each other with held breath.

"…is Jolt the Jolteon, owned by Seth of Viridian City!" Whitney looked up with a huge smile on her face.

The whole crowd erupted in cheers and applause. Seth, Sola, Shadow, Blaze, and Misty immediately looked at Jolt with a surprised but happy looks on their faces before erupting in cheers themselves. Jolt, in celebration, bolted off in a flash of yellow light, zigzagging through the crowd then zipping along one of the walls before finally jumping from the wall somersaulting and landing on the platform behind the three ladies. Whitney placed the medal around Jolt's neck, which was a shiny gold-colored Zubat face, before going back to her microphone. Jolt decided to walk back through the cheering crowd as Whitney announced the runner-up. As Whitney was giving the silver-medal to the runner-up, Jolt was met with congratulations from Seth and the rest of the Eeveelutions.

"Your performance really took them off of their feet, Jolt. Awesome job!" Seth told his beaming Jolteon before speaking to his whole team. "I saw all of your performances. You all did a really good job of getting into your costumes."

=We really had fun! I don't care if I didn't win, I had fun.= Sola said, which was followed by a happy nod from Misty and Blaze. =We should do this every year.=

"Don't start getting your plans ready yet, Sola. That's still another year away." Seth replied, laughing.

"Congratulations to the winners and great performances by _all_ of the pokemon contestants." Nurse Joy suddenly said over the mic, "Now onto the trainer's Costume Contest."

=You think you won, Seth?= Sola asked.

=Nah, but like you said, I don't care. I had fun.= he replied before patting her head.

"This year's Costume Contest winner is… Kyle from Goldenrod City!" Nurse Joy said before the gym again erupted in applause.

Kyle in his Death outfit went up and received a shiny gold-colored Duskull medal before looking out over the crowd and waving. Ashley received the runner-up medal for her Wicked Witch costume to just as much applause.

"That's all we wrote. We'll see you again next year!" Whitney said to the roaring crowd.

Several minutes passed by with Seth's pokemon talking to others around the gym. Seth went straight back up to the gym leader's platform to see Whitney and Jasmine again.

"Wow, that was another fun contest." Seth said as he approached the Clefable and Ampharos costumed gym leaders. The crowd had started to disperse, with some leaving the gym now that the main event has ended.

"Yeah, it was really tough to decide for the trainers. It's a shame they didn't cheer for you too much, though." Jasmine said, slightly sad for Seth.

"Oh, I forgot to say before, you also have a cute costume, Jasmine." He said before turning away slightly. Jasmine held her hands to her face and blushed a bit at the comment.

"There were a _lot_ of really good costumes this year. But hey, your Jolteon won by a landside with the audience." Whitney added.

"Yeah, you'd think if they actually recognized Jolt's costume, they'd know mine also. Oh well, it was fun. All of my pokemon enjoyed themselves also." Seth replied trying to keep a good mood.

"I'm glad I came here this year. This city seems to draw pretty large crowds." Jasmine said as she looked out to the mass of trainers and pokemon still inside the gym.

"Yeah, it's a big mess trying to handle this by myself." Whitney replied, "Thanks for coming this year."

"Two leaders are better than one for stuff like this." Seth added, which caused Jasmine and Whitney to giggle a little.

As Seth continued talking with Whitney and Jasmine, the crowds slowly started leaving the gym. Shadow, Blaze, Misty, and Jolt had eaten their fill and started lying down in the lounge area, while Sola joined Seth at the leader's platform. Soon, it was only the two leaders, Seth and his pokemon, and the gym trainers left in the gym. All of them showing signs of getting tired.

"I guess that's it." Whitney said, holding back a yawn and checking her pokegear. "It's almost midnight. Maybe we should call it a night."

"Yeah. Mmmm, I'm too tired to even go back to Olivine." Jasmine said, stretching her arms.

"You can stay here with me until you want to leave tomorrow." Whitney offered. Jasmine nodded in agreement.

"I've got a room at the pokemon center." Seth said as he looked toward his pokemon. "Guess we'd better start making our way back before my pokemon crash in the gym."

"Ok, it was fun. I'll talk to you some other time." Whitney said as Seth and Sola stepped down from the platform. "Call me sometime, I mean it!" She then shouted, which caused Seth to chuckle lightly. He gathered his tired team and exited into the cold night to head back to the pokemon center. Blaze vented heat to keep everyone warm during their trip, but they were suddenly stopped.

"Seth, wait!" he heard from behind him. He turned to see Jasmine running to him.

"What is it, Jasmine?" He asked.

"I also would like to hear from you more. Maybe we could, um… exchange pokegear phone numbers?" She said while looking down, trying to hide her blushing face.

Seth smiled warmly. "Sure. We can meet up and do something whenever you have free time."

They quickly exchanged numbers before she ran back to the gym. Sola jumped at the opportunity.

='We can do something together'? Just admit it already, Seth.= She teased as they entered the building.

"Admit what?" he slyly replied as they made their way up to their room.

=How you really feel about those two gym leaders. C'mon, admit it.= She said, nudging his leg.

"What? They're good friends." He replied as they entered their room. "Kinda soon to be jumping to that conclusion, isn't it?"

=Nope!= She chirped.

Seth helped his Eeveelutions slip out of their costumes and placing them back into their individual bags. He followed suit with his own, and placing the costume bags in a corner of the room. Blaze, Jolt, and Misty immediately fell asleep. Shadow stayed awake with Sola a little longer.

"Another fun Halloween gone in a flash. I felt like I didn't see everyone long enough." He said before falling asleep in the queen-size bed.

Sola and Shadow curled up together on the bed and soon began to fall asleep themselves.

_*You can try and deny it all you want, Seth, but we both know what you're really feeling for them.* _Sola thought before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Author's Notes: Yeah, yeah, I know I'm too late for Halloween. I originally planned this to be a short, but you know how a writer's mind tends to work, it keeps getting expanded as the idea develops more in your head. I actually got the original idea on the 29th, and it slowly spiraled into the 15 page monster it is now. Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday in their own way.

Me? I TRIED to set up a costume for a theme my sister and her friend wanted to do. We were gonna do a Resident Evil 4 theme. My sister wanted to be Leon (Mafia outfit), her friend (almost another sister to me) was going to be Ashley Graham, and me- the Merchant. My merchant outfit was incomplete, with just the trench, bandanna, gloves, and backpack being the same. It looked perfect when the trench was closed. I had a black hoodie and fleece sweatpants underneath, and stuff was duct taped everywhere (I printed out ammo artwork and taped it to cassette tape boxes for most of the space) and it just looked rushed. But hey, it's good progress for only having a WEEK to get it done. My sister's friend didn't even try to finish her Ashley outfit (She started, at least) and instead was a cowgirl with a British accent *Epic Facepalm*. I plan on finishing the Merchant outfit, though, preferably before Colossalcon, so I'll eventually have pictures.


End file.
